Foreign Places
by dx-nodoubt-dx
Summary: Revamped. ON HOLD TILL ALL CHAPTERS WRITTEN. OC, HHH, HBK, Steph, Cena, Orton, others. Foreign girl finds herself in the WWE and finds many obstacles and hot men in the way of her true happiness. I suck at summaries?
1. Chapter 1

"You look as though you're about to throw up."

"Trust me, I feel like it."

Peter laughed as he grabbed my hand and dragged me further into the building. Gazing around with my mouth practically at my feet, I still could not believe that I was backstage at a Smackdown! taping. So far we hadn't seen anybody - wrestlers or backstage staff. That was the way I preferred it. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep down that nice lunch Peter had taken me to if I met any of my wrestling idols. Hey, it sounds cheesy, but it's true. I was terrified to meet any of them in case I made a complete fool of myself... which I did most of the time, famous wrestlers or not.

"It's emptier than I expected." Peter paused walking, and stared around. "Oh well, let's go get Steph and Paul."

I dug my heels in harder as he dragged me along the corridors. Most people we passed nodded curtly to us, not even giving us a second glance. I didn't mind that one bit.

"I don't want to go see them." I whined. "I don't want to make a fool of myself Pete."

Peter just chuckled. "You won't. They're nice people, you'll love them."

I scowled and ripped my arm out of his grasp. I folded my arms and pretended to pout, hopping up on top of a nearby trunk.

"Oh come on Marley." Peter pouted along with me. "Let's go down to the ring then."

"NO!" My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. "I don't want to draw any attention to myself."

Pete's eyebrows rose slightly. "And your random Scottish accent doesn't already draw attention?"

I slapped him on the arm. "Shut it. I don't want to go anywhere. I don't even know why I agreed to let you take me here."

"Because you're my best friend and I knew how much you would enjoy yourself." He said simply, staring up at me with those big puppy dog eyes. Yeah, he was right. We were best friends, but that didn't mean he could just exploit my shyness like this.

"Pete, you don't understand how I feel." I said, squirming slightly. "Your uncle and aunt are my two favourite WWE people _ever_. It's a scary thing to think about meeting them. I really don't want to be faced with such a huge amount of nerves when it's gonna be your WWE debut in the same night."

He rolled his eyes. "It's a dark match, this is only a trial remember." He patted my knees and smiled at me. "And don't think of them as Triple H and the Billion Dollar Princess... think about them as just Steph and Paul. They're cool. They know all about you and I know they'll love you just as much as you'll love them."

"I already do love them." I grumbled as I let him pick me up and place me back on the floor. "Or do you forget how we met at a Smackdown taping six months ago?"

He grinned at me. "How could I ever forget?"

I grinned back and lapsed into some reminiscing as he dragged me through the building to his destination. It had only been April of this year when my family won an insane amount of money and had decided to live in America for a year. We had travelled around for a few weeks before we settled for the year in Nashua, New Hampshire. Don't ask why we didn't stop somewhere flashy like LA or Miami or New York. I think New Hampshire reminded my parents of our hometown in Scotland. It was a very peaceful, yet busy place. Everyone knew each other, there was a tight-knit community. Plus the weather was always nice there. The first thing I did when we settled in New Hampshire was book tickets to Conneticuits upcoming Smackdown show. I didn't get very good seats, but I didn't mind either way - it would be my first Smackdown show ever. Not to mention my first time in Conneticuit. Near the end of the show, I got up to get me and my brother some popcorn, when some dumbass came barelling into me, causing me to go crashing to the floor.

I was self-concious about speaking to American's, because they almost always mentioned something about my accent. So instead of chewing him up for bumping me to the floor, I just glared at him as I picked myself up.

"I'm sorry about that," hazel eyes stared at me in concern. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's alright," I said with a slight smile. This guy, despite his friendly manner, intimidated me. He was about 6 foot 2, about 220 pounds, and was in amazing shape. I could see the muscles bulging out of his t-shirt. I tried to determine how old he could be. About 22 tops. Damn, I thought, five years was a bit too much in my opinion.

"That's an interesting accent." He smiled at me and leant against the railing. I hadn't wanted to waste much time, I wanted to get back and see the rest of the show. I dodged around him and bought our popcorns.

"Scottish." I answered, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry but I'm gonna get back and see the rest of the show."

"Oh okay." He grinned at me. "Fancy meeting me out back after?"

I stared at him. Was he attempting some kind of date-rape thing? "What?"

"Just so we can swap numbers." He said quickly. "Your hands are pretty full right now."

"I'm staying in New Hampshire," I said with a slight frown. "There wouldn't be any point."

His eyes lit up. "No way, I'm from New Hampshire too!"

I fought hard not to roll my eyes. "How convenient."

"Please," his eyes were pleading with me. I noticed how alike to a puppy-dog he looked like. "In the carpark, were all the buses are. Bring whoever your with. It's just so I can get your number. I really wanna hang out with you sometime."

"Fine." I said with a sigh. "But if you're late I'm leaving."

He grinned and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you..."

"Marley," I shook his hand whilst balancing the popcorn. "Marley McCallan."

"Peter," he called after me as I began to walk away. "Peter Levesque."

I couldn't help but snort as I remembered our first meeting. We'd met up at the buses, with my brother Scott feeling completely out of place. He glared at Peter the whole time we swapped numbers and small talk. Peter, despite my guesses, was only nineteen - two years older than me. He had lied about his last name being Levesque. He had noticed the Triple H shirt I had been wearing, and wanted to get a reaction from me. Although I knew that he was definitely Triple H's nephew, I decided to steer clear of mentioning wrestling while we got to know each other. I think because I didn't mention wrestling or his uncle for the first few weeks of our friendship, he found himself greatly interested in me. He was training to become a wrestler - and up until the move to America, so had I - so when we eventually decided that we could address the fact he was related to my hero, we had plenty to discuss involving the wrestling business. We lived about ten minutes away from each other. And for the past six months, we had been inseperable.

"What's funny?" Peter asked, stopping outside an official looking door that had a piece of paper taped to it. I didn't even want to read what that bit of paper said.

"I was remembering how you called yourself Levesque just to get a reaction out of me." I teased him. He blushed slightly.

"Well, I didn't want you to blow me off. I could tell how special our friendship was gonna be right from the off."

"Sure." I rolled my eyes. "That and you wanted my ass."

"I did not!" Pete yelped, his eyed widening. "That is so not why-"

"Pete, can you keep it down?"

I turned towards the door, which was now opened. Opened, to reveal Triple H standing there, looking at us with an amused expression on his face. My mouth couldn't help but just drop open. I was finally here. Meeting my wrestling idol. The Game. HHH. Paul Levesque. I was finally meeting the man my best friend had been harping on at me to meet for almost six months. But I'd always been too chicken to go along with it.

"This gaping fish is my friend Marley," Pete nudged me hard in the side. I instantly got over my disbelief and scowled at him, returning the gesture with a punch to the balls.

Paul groaned along with his nephew, and shot me a grin. "Glad to see you don't let him give you any of his shit." He stood aside to let me into the room. "Come on in."

"Any more of your crap and you'll not be able to piss for a week." I growled at Pete, walking backwards through the door as he tried to act angry at me.

I heard a familiar chuckle from behind me. "Looks like you've finally met your match Peter."

I turned and this time, my mouth stayed closed. But only just. Stephanie McMahon was lounging back on the sofa, but she quickly got to her feet as Peter and Triple H both followed me in the room. I glanced quickly around the room and noticed two little girls sleeping peacefully side-by-side on the other sofa.

"Aww," Peter cooed. I didn't know if Paul and Stephanie knew him as well as I did, but I could tell he was taking the piss. "Two little angels."

I shot him another glare. He held up his hands. "All right. They are cute. I admit that. I was only joking."

Stephanie grinned and approached me with her hand outstretched. "Hey Marley, it's really nice to finally meet you. We've heard a lot about you."

I smiled and shook her hand, imprinting this memory in my head for the rest of my life.

"This is Stephanie," Peter said quickly coming forward.

"Call me Steph," she replied quickly. "Everyone else does."

"And this big tub of lard is my fab Uncle Paul," Peter grinned and slapped his uncle playfully on the chest. He gave his nephew his best Triple H glare before shaking my hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." My voice came out all squeaky. Peter looked at me with a mixture of concern and amusement. "Sorry." I sighed and began cracking my knuckles. "It's just I never ever imagined I'd be able to meet you two."

Stephanie just smiled at me. "How are you enjoying being here so far?"

"It's amazing," I answered truthfully. "I didn't think I'd ever be able to do this either."

"How long have you been a fan?" Paul asked, sitting beside his wife. Peter took the only remaining seat on the end of the couch were the girls were sleeping, then pulled me onto his lap.

I hesitated. Peter knew exactly what I was worried about.

"She's afraid to tell you in case you don't think she's passionate about the company," he teased. I tried to glare at him, but I felt secure sitting in his lap. His arm was wrapped around my waist, and I squeezed it slightly. He squeezed my body back in return. "She was a fan when she was a kid, then she stopped watching for a few years."

"That's okay," Stephanie said with a laugh. "At least you're a fan now right."

I smiled and nodded. "I watch it differently now though." When they both looked at me questioningly, I decided to elaborate. "When I was younger, I watched it purely for the entertainment value. But when I got back into it when I was fifteen, I actually enjoyed the sport, I respected the sport. I watched it as a fan but also as someone who had a love for the sport myself. Am I making any sense?" I asked desperately.

Paul nodded. "That's what usually happens. When you're a kid you think it's all real and big and bloody and exciting. But when you begin to grow up and actually understand things, you see that it's an art. And you're either gonna not like knowing the reality of it, and fall away from it - or you're gonna embrace what it really is, and fall in love with it even more."

I nodded. That was exactly what I had been trying to say, but I had been too damn star-struck to properly string a few sentences together. Man was I a loser.

"Peter, your match will be in the next hour," Stephanie glanced at her watch. "You might want to get ready and warmed up."

Peter nodded and sprung to his feet and began rummaging in his bag. My eyes glanced over the two little girls and I couldn't help but smile, they looked so cute.

"Oh," Stephanie caught my eye and grinned. "I forgot about them. The bigger one is-"

"Steph, do you really think you need to tell her?" Peter asked from inside his duffel bag. In response I threw my cellphone at his butt.

"Way to make me look like an obsessed stalker jackass." I said with a glare.

Stephanie and Paul burst out laughing. "Aurora and Murphy." Stephanie nodded towards her daughters, still chuckling heartily.

"I can't believe you actually put up with him," Paul nodded towards his nephew as he made his way to the shower. He chucked my phone at me, but it fell short. It was mere inches away from banging Murphy in the noggin when I managed to snatch it out of the air. Peter had frozen, watching the phone fall. Stephanie and Paul had both moved forward to try and catch the phone, but I got there first. I put my phone back in my pocket, and flipped Peter off.

"Well done Batman, you almost gave your baby cousin a concussion."

Paul chuckled at the Batman reference, while Stephanie checked that Murphy and Aurora were still sleeping. After a quick shower, Peter had changed into his tights and was stretching on the floor.

"So which part of Scotland do you come from?" Stephanie asked brightly.

"Glasgow," I smiled. "I lived in a little village like place in the East End."

Paul chuckled. "Glasgow crowds are awesome."

I couldn't help but feel proud to hear that. "I was at a RAW show in November. I bought the tickets, hoping to see, among others, Triple H... two weeks later the announcement comes that there's gonna be a draft." I sighed theatrically. "I just knew what was gonna happen. _Someone_ got themselves drafted to the rival brand... and before I could go see Smackdown I'd been told we were coming to live here for a year."

Paul and Stephanie laughed again. "Well at least you can see him now." Stephanie said, smiling at her husband. They were so cute.

"Yeah," I grinned. "Sorry Pete but I may be taking full advantage of your family connections to make the most of my last six months here."

"So you're definitely leaving next April?" Stephanie asked. It didn't go unnoticed that both her and Paul glanced at Peter as she asked this. I noticed Peter had frozen and was doing his best to avoid my gaze. He began noisily doing pull ups as I shrugged it off.

"Probably." I said with a shrug. "My mum and dad like it here, but they miss Scotland. By April I think they'll be ready to go home."

"And what if you want to stay?" Paul questioned. "What age would you be by next April?"

"Eighteen." I smiled slightly. "But I have six months to decide what I want to do. That's if they even consider letting me stay here without them."

"Eighteen means you're an adult." Peter interrupted. "Not just here but in your homeland too."

"I like how you just assume I would be willing to be on the other side of the world from my family." I raised my eyebrows at him. He was still avoiding my eyes.

"Well if you had a reason to stay here then you would right," he finally looked me in the eyes.

"Other than you there really isn't a reason to stay." I said softly. It was almost as though Paul and Stephanie were no longer in the room.

"And am I not enough reason to stay?" he asked, just as softly.

I looked down at my feet.

Paul cleared his throat. We both jumped.

"Sorry," Paul said, blushing slightly. "But we better go down and do the trial now kid. Before it starts filling up."

Peter nodded. He had suddenly gone pale. I quickly got to my feet and gripped his hand tightly as the Levesque's nanny appeared to watch over the girls.

"Now no showing off out there for my benefit," I quickly put the previous awkward moment from my mind. This was his time to shine and he needed me to be supportive. "I don't want you getting hurt and only me seeing it."

He grinned at me, but said nothing. As the ring loomed into view, I felt a sudden knot of envy in my stomach. What I wouldn't give to be the one out there, trying to impress the WWE for a contract.

"Remember what we talked about about confidence." I muttered in his ear. I could see Vince McMahon, Arn Anderson and other legendary WWE folk littering the ring. "Don't be afraid of anything. You may be small fries to these people, but they're no better than you."

He stared me straight in the eyes. "I really need to start paying you for this motivation."

I grinned and pecked him on the cheek. "Go get um tiger." I slapped his ass playfully as he got in the ring. I stood for a few moments before catching Stephanie waving to me out of the corner of my eye. I quickly made my way towards were she sat with her husband, father and other WWE developmental officials.

"I'll make introductions later," Stephanie whispered as I sat in between her and Paul at Paul's request. "My dad's in his business mode right now."

I tried to feel interested about the prospect of meeting Vince McMahon, but to be honest I didn't care. I just wanted so badly for Peter's try-out to go well. He had worked so hard to try and get where he was today, without help from his uncle. Not that he didn't appreciate help from Paul. He just didn't want people assuming he only got ahead in the business because he was the nephew of Triple H. He deserved this shot, and I desperately wanted it to work out for him. I felt a pang of sadness when I realised I probably wouldn't see him again once I left America. If this turned into a permanent WWE deal, then he would be travelling and working too much to ever come to Scotland to visit me. And I knew I was getting chucked straight into University the moment my feet touched down in Glasgow, so there was no way I was gonna be given permission to make my stay in America permanent.

His match was against a jobber called Johnny. The moment Peter stepped up into the ring, I could see the wrestler in him begin to take over. He grew calm and confident, and smirked slightly as he and Johnny circled each other. Beside me, I felt Paul sigh with relief.

"Thank God," he muttered. "I thought he might choke under the stress."

There did seem to be a lot of pressure on him to do well. A lot of people had turned out to see them fight. I didn't know if it was the norm, because I had obviously never been here before. But something told me it wasn't. Good news travelled fast. And it seemed like a lot of people wanted to see Triple H's nephew have a try-out.

Peter and Johnny grappled in the ring for a few moments before Peter whipped Johnny into the corner, as Johnny came staggering out, Peter executed a German supplex on Johnny from behind. He then leapt up onto the top rope and executed a frog splash. As Peter whipped Johnny back into the other corner, he hit him with a hurricanerana out of nowhere. Johnny staggered back to his feet and attempted to lock in a submission move, but Peter countered it with a high knee and a jackhammer like move. He once more hit the top turn-buckle for the flying elbow, before Johnny got up and began kicking him in the ribs. Johnny supplexed him, then Peter blocked a superkick attempt with a spinebuster. I couldn't help but grin at Paul - Peter was definitely paying a slight homage to his uncle. Peter once more got on the top rope, this time for a moonsault. As he got Johnny back up on his feet, I saw Vince nod to Stephanie.

"Okay Peter," Stephanie held up her hand. "That was great, that'll do for now."  
Forgetting that I was basically a nobody, and that I should probably let management talk to him first, I flipped over the guardrail in an exact Shawn-Michaels impression and ran to meet Peter as he got down from the ring. He had barely broken out a sweat, and was panting slightly. I knew he didn't want to ask how he had done, but I could see the question burning in his stare.

"You were amazing." I grinned at him. "You can mix up technical and high-flying. Not many people can do that-"

"She's right," came a deep voice behind us. My phone had been in my hand - the moment I heard the voice I dropped it and it fell apart as it hit the ground. Ignoring it, I turned around to face Vincent Kennedy McMahon. He stared at me for a few moments. I felt Peter bend behind me to pick up the pieces of my mobile.

"And who helped you become so expert at wrestling?" he peered at me over his glasses, I felt a huge knot in my stomach.

"No-one in particular," I stuttered. "I just know a lot about the business."

His eyebrows shot up. And I mean shot up. "Oh you do, do you. Well-"

"Peter, that was great." Stephanie and Paul scurried up to us. "We'll need to see you at next week's Smackdown to discuss some things. But we definitely want to hire you."

Peter tried to hide his true feelings, but he failed dismally. "Thank you Ms McMahon, it would be a real honour to work for the WWE."

"Good to hear son," Vince patted Peter on the back, and dragged him away from me. "Enough of that McMahon bullcrap, you can call her Aunt Steph you know."

"Dad." Steph rolled her eyes and followed them through the curtain. I stood still for a few moments, gazing up at the ring. I didn't notice that Paul was standing beside me until I heard him speak.

"Get in."

I stared at him. "What?"

"Get in." He repeated simply.

"Why-"

"I know you wrestle." He said simply. "And I've heard you're pretty good. I want to see for myself."

"But-"

"I won't do anything to hurt you," Paul smiled. "I haven't warmed up either remember."

I sighed. I knew this could be the opening I was waiting for. It could also be a cool experience to tell my friends when I got home. Stripping off my leather jacket, I slid into the ring. As Paul muttered a few words to Arn and Jim Ross, who hadn't taken their gaze off of me since the whole phone-smashing incident, I got a feel for the ring. I bounced off the ropes a few times and jumped around a little bit, trying to get my blood pumping. Paul slowly got inside the ring, and we circled each other slightly. Eventually he held up his hands and beckoned me towards him. Without even needing to ask what he meant, I just acted on instinct and locked up with him. His strength surprised me at first. So much so that I actually paused what I was doing which allowed him to totally send me falling on my ass. I sprung up and circled him again, this time hip-tossing him before he could get close enough to overpower me. He whipped me into the corner and attempted to run into me, I put my foot out and cross bodied him from the top rope. I then did a shooting star splash quickly on top of him before pulling him upright. He shot me into the ropes and hissed a warning to me before clotheslining me full force onto the mat. Every single bit of wind left my body, and I struggled to breath as I leapt to my feet. I could tell I had impressed him, but I could no longer breath as he attempted to spinebuster me. I countered and head-scissored him onto the mat. The moment my body crashed into the mat, I gasped and felt a pain shoot through my stomach.

"Alright," Paul had grabbed me and hoisted me to my feet. "Just breath it out. Breath. Keep breathing."

I did what he instructed, not knowing whether to feel embarrassed or just angry at the fact I had winded myself.

"I didn't think you'd get up from that." Paul said. He wasn't smiling nor was he looking impressed or surprised. I couldn't read his expression at all except for the seriousness written all over his face. "I think you're done for the day."

I wanted to protest, but I was aware now more than ever the amount of people who had stopped what they were doing to watch us. Plus, I hadn't managed to get enough oxygen back in my chest to even properly speak. I just nodded and let him lead me out of the ring. My movements were slow, but only because it was a chore and a half to breathe in and out regularly.

"Hey kid," I turned round to see The Undertaker (yes, _the _Undertaker) holding out my jacket. "You forgot this."

Ignoring the lack of air in my lungs, I jogged back to the side of the ring and took back my jacket.

"Thanks." I said with a smile and a nod.

"Good job." He nodded and smiled back at me.

As I walked backstage, I was in a daze. Not only had I just wrestled Triple H, but Mark Calloway of all people had given me a compliment on said wrestling!!

"Are you okay?" Peter popped out of nowhere, looking fresh from the shower and still feeling damp. He took my head in his hands and made me look into his eyes. "You look like you can't breathe."

"That's because your lovely uncle gave her a stiff clothesline." Stephanie glared at her husband, who shuffled a bit looking sheepish.

"It's okay," I rasped quickly. "I asked him to do it."

Paul stared at me in surprise, then turned to his wife. "I just wanted to see what she could do."

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry sweetie, feel free to get him back however way you please."

I smiled slightly. "That won't be necessary." I turned to Paul and grinned. "Thanks for doing that."

He shrugged. "No problem." He followed his wife back towards their locker-room. My chest still hurt slightly, but I could now talk freely.

"So?" I asked, grabbing his arm and dragging him to a nearby box were we both plonked down. "What's going down?"

"Well," I could tell he was savouring the moment... dragging everything out. "They made me a verbal offer."

"And?" I asked. I could barely dare to believe it.

"And you're looking at the newest member of Smackdown." Peter laughed as I screamed and threw my arms around him.

"It's not in concrete yet," I heard him choke out. My arms were so tight I was compressing his ability to breathe. "The contract won't be signed until next Tuesday."

"I don't care." I replied happily. "I'm so happy for you babe."

Without thinking, I kissed him full on the lips. I broke away and began dancing around the crate.

He laughed, but I could tell he was blushing. "You are insane."

"And you are getting what you deserve." I smiled at him and pulled him off the crate. "Come on. I wanna settle down to watch the show, then we can go out and celebrate."

"About that," Peter tried to calm me down, but I could tell he was just excited as I was, and was trying to play it cool. "I told Steph and Paul we'd go out for dinner with them after the show, do you mind?"

I just stared at him.

"Alright," he laughed. "Clearly a yes."

We arrived outside Stephanie and Paul's locker-room. Without knocking, Peter waltzed in, dragging me behind him. I banged into his back as he stopped suddenly, and couldn't help but giggle at what we saw in front of us. Paul was clearly just about to go shower, because he was naked apart from his boxers. The happy couple looked to be on the road to some serious TLC. Both Stephanie and Paul looked mortified at being walked in on, not to mention Peter looked as though he was about to lose his lunch. I decided to try and lighten the mood to smooth over the awkwardness.

"This is why you should knock jackass," I said, again I couldn't help but giggle. "Oh think of the fun you single men are missing."

Peter just gaped at his aunt and uncle, I pushed him back out the door. I turned back to Stephanie who was beginning to giggle herself.

"Have fun." I winked at her and they both burst out laughing as I let the door swing shut behind me.

Peter leant against the wall, breathing deeply.

"You okay?" I asked in concern.

"I don't think I'll ever get that picture out my mind." he groaned, rubbing his head.

I tutted. "They're married and in love dude, get over it. It's what couples do." When Peter groaned again, I decided to have some fun. "How do you think Aurora and Murphy were created?"

"STOP!" Peter yelped, putting his hands over his ears. "I don't want to hear any more."

I laughed and made to speak before I heard someone yelling.

"PETER!" I turned to see little Aurora Rose Levesque running towards her big cousin. Peter grinned in response and swept her up into his arms.

"How ya doin squirt?" He asked, twirling her around.

She giggled and set her gaze on me.

"Hi." I said, smiling at her.

She didn't return the smile. "Hi."

"Aurora, this is my friend Marley," Peter said. "The one I told you about."

Aurora's face lit up. "Your bestie?"

Peter and I laughed. "Yes," he winked. "My bestie."

"I think we can go back in now," I leant against the door and heard the shower running. Murphy appeared being wheeled along in her stroller by the nanny, who Peter introduced me to as Sonja.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Sonja said with a warm smile. "We've heard everything about you from Petey."

Peter's nose krinkled at the word Petey, causing Aurora and I to laugh.

"Petey Petey Petey!" Aurora teased as we entered back in to the locker-room. "Hi mommy." She jumped down to the ground and ran into her mother's arms.

"Hello baby, were you good for Sonja?" Stephanie asked, shooting the rest of us a smile as we poured into the room.

As Paul exited the shower, he looked over his nephew. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell your mom what you walked in on."

Peter sniggered. "Scared of big bad Lynne are you?"

Paul smiled slightly and set about getting into his ring gear. Once done, he began stretching.

"Are you guys coming for dinner?" Stephanie asked brightly as Aurora began playing with her hair.

We nodded.

"Good," Paul stood up and Stephanie got up with him. "We've got some stuff to do, the doors are opening soon. Will you be alright watching the kids? Sonja's taking off for a few days."

Peter nodded and picked up Murphy. "We'll be fine, go do what you have to do."

Paul ruffled his daughter's hair and grabbed Stephanie's hand. "We'll try and get back before the show starts."

"Don't rush." Peter called back as the door swung shut.

"Marley," Aurora came over and sat on my lap. "Do you like Barbie?"

I pretended to be shocked. "Oh my gosh. I _love_ Barbie. Do you like Barbie?"

Aurora giggled and nodded. "Do you want to play?"

So that was how I spent most of the hour and a half leading up to the show beginning. Aurora and I played with her Barbies, and I must admit I had a pretty great time. We dressed them, took them for a walk in the "park" which was actually the couch, before we had a fashion show for them, making them wear all the outfits and walk along the "catwalk" which was a sheet of cardboard Peter had pulled out from somewhere. Murphy sat watching and every so often attempted to grab something to put in her mouth.

"No Murphy!" Aurora scolded, grabbing a small shoe from her sisters pudgy hand. "You can't eat Barbie's shoes, it's not nice!"

Murphy's bottom lip began to tremble, and I pulled her close to me for a hug. Peter checked his watch.

"She'll probably need fed," he muttered, going over to the baby bag and rummaging through it. He checked the bottle of milk, and held it out for me. I just stared at him.

"Pete, you have to heat it up." He got a complete "D'oh" look on his face, and went away to the cafeteria to find a microwave. I held Murphy in my arms while I helped Aurora clean up all her things, when we were settling down on the sofa, Pete entered the room followed by Stephanie and Paul. I handed the baby over to her mother to feed her, and Aurora got up and ran to her father.

"Daddy, can we go get something to eat?" She asked, tugging on his shirt.

"We can take her," Pete offered quickly. I couldn't help but stare at him strangely... yeah, he loved his little cousins, but never before had I seen him take such an interest in children. It was weird.

Paul glanced at me for confirmation and I nodded. "Come on Aurora, let's go get something to munch."

Aurora giggled as she took my hand and lead me out the room. "You say my name funny."

"Aurora!" I heard Stephanie call from inside the locker-room. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Marley comes from a different country Aurora," Peter explained as we made our way through catering. A lot more people paid a lot more attention to us this time around, I guessed it was probably because we had Aurora with us. They smiled at us in a friendly manner, some even said hello to Peter and Aurora. "So she sounds a bit different from us."

"You're not American?" Aurora asked, gazing up at me in curiosity.

"I'm Scottish," I smiled down at her as we entered the catering room. The amount of wrestlers milling about made my insides squirm. "I'm from Scotland, which is in Britain."

"Have I been to Scotland?" Aurora turned her attention back to her cousin.

Peter nodded. "A couple of times yes."

"Peter!" I recognised that voice, all three of us swung round.

"Uncle Shane!" Aurora shrieked, running full-force into Shane McMahon's abdomen.

"Hey!" he gasped, as Aurora's head connected with his rib-cage. "I've missed you too 'Rora." Turning to Pete, he grinned. "I saw your tryout and I heard the news, congratulations."

Peter grinned widely and shook his hand. "It still hasn't sunk in properly I don't think."

Shane laughed. "Well once you get into the grinding schedule, I'm sure it will hit you like a ton of bricks."

I suddenly felt Aurora begin to tug me towards the food table.

"Marley come on," she whined. "I'm hungry."

I chuckled and Shane held out his hand, I shook it.

"You must be Marley," he smiled at me. They were all so friendly. "I saw Paul bump you about a bit."

I laughed. "Peter set him on me when I didn't do what I was told."

Shane laughed as well. "I can believe that. Listen I've got to get going but it was nice meeting you. Congrats again Peter, I'll see you on Sunday." He winked down at Aurora and then left.

"What's happening on Sunday?" Aurora and I asked in unison as we approached the food table.

Peter also looked confused. "I'm not entirely sure."

We collected some food and began to make our way out of the catering room.

"Petey boy - long time no see!" came a deep Texas drawl.

Peter was already chuckling as he turned around. "Sup Mark? How ya been?"

Mark Calloway grabbed Peter and pulled him into a hug. "I've been good boy, how bout you?"

"I've been alright," Peter smiled.

Mark glanced over at me. "She your girl?"

My face twitched a little bit, causing him to laugh.

"I take it by those reactions thats a no," he held out his hand to me. "I'm Mark Calloway, known Pete since he was a little kid."

"Marley," I smiled and returned the hand shake. "Known Pete since I met him at a Smackdown show."

Mark chuckled, then glanced down at Aurora. "Hello princess."

"Hi Mark." Aurora said, shyly hiding her face behind my legs.

Mark laughed again. "Well, must get on. Hang about for a coupla days why don't ya? We've got things to discuss."

Peter raised his eyebrows. "Like what?"

"Like you being part of the locker-room from now on," Mark grinned at us. "That's what."  
Peter sighed. "I can't even begin to think about things like that," he gave a strained smile. "I gotta sleep over everything before I fully accept I'm a WWE employee."

Mark nodded. "We can talk properly about it another time." He nodded towards me. "You got some talent in the ring kid, keep it up. And I'll see you both later. Bye Princess." He added to Aurora.

When we arrived back at the locker-room, I ate my pizza silently, just trying to take in everything that had happened that day while Peter, the girls and I watched the show. When the show was eventually over, Paul and Stephanie both came back and we headed out to dinner with the girls in tow.

"Great show," I nodded to Stephanie as we settled down at a local Jays. I was so glad it was just a burger joint, I wasn't in the mood for a big fancy dinner. "You had a really good match Paul."

Paul smiled gratefully at me, before kissing his wife a little bit and taking a bite of his burger. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

"When do you guys go back to Nashua?" Stephanie asked brightly.

"Tomorrow night." Peter answered. "Our flights at like 8pm."

"Oh that's good," Stephanie grinned. "So we have all day tomorrow to hang out."

Peter nodded and gulped. "In one week I'll be travelling with you permanently."

That was when it hit me. As of next Tuesday, Peter would be a part of Smackdown and would be touring regularly with them. This could be the last week I had my best friend all to myself. The thought made me feel really really sad and only further silenced me for the remainder of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

"Is there something wrong?" Peter asked me in concern.

We were both lying on our beds in the hotel room, flicking through the television channels. After dinner, we had bade goodbye to Paul and Steph in the elevator, and I had collapsed onto my bed feeling absolutely exhausted. Even though I had barely engaged in any physical activity, the long day had caught up with me.

I shrugged. "Not really."

His gaze didn't move away from me. Eventually I sighed.

"Fine, I'm just a little bummed out about you being part of Smackdown! and I know that's selfish but I don't care. I'm gonna miss you when you're out on the road."

He didn't say anything for a few moments, instead he just looked at me.

"Would you come with me if I asked?" he said eventually.

I avoided his gaze. "I'm not sure. I'd just be a spare part. I wouldn't want that."

I heard him sigh as he switched the TV off and rolled over onto his side. "We can discuss it nearer the time. Goodnight."

I could tell I had pissed him off, so I didn't bother arguing with him. I tried to get comfy, but my back was acting really stiff. I badly needed a massage. I tossed around a little bit, attempting and failing at giving myself a massage. Eventually I howled into the pillow in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked.

"My back's all stiff." came my muffled reply.

"Because of Paul's clothesline?" I could tell he was now sitting up.

"No." I chuckled. "I think it's from the flight. It's been stiff like this for a couple of days."

"Do you want a massage?" Before I could answer, he had sat across my ass and began kneading my lower back with his knuckles. I couldn't help but groan.

"That feels so good," my face was still buried in the pillow. "You are a life saver."

"Don't get too used to it," he teased. "I'll be charging you for the next one."

We lay in silence for a few more minutes while he massaged me. I was thinking once more about him leaving, and how attached I'd grown to him over the past six months. Then again, I thought, in another six months time, I would be doing the exact same thing to him. But I wouldn't be coming back for two days a week.

"Better?" He asked after another 40 minutes. I groaned delightedly in reply as he got off my back and settled back down to bed.

"Goodnight Princess." I heard him whisper. My eyes shot open.

He had only called me Princess once before in our entire friendship... and it brought back a ton of memories that I'd much sooner forget.

*

"Marley, hey, Mar. Come on dude wake up, Steph's on the phone."

I groaned in reply.

"She's not a morning person." I heard Peter say. "Marley! Steph wants to know if you wanna go to shopping with her today-"

I flipped him off in reply. I heard him chuckling as he said, "She's not really a shopping person Stephanie... why don't you both come to the gym with Paul and me? What? Oh no, Marley's a work-out freak. She'll love it. Ha, yeah, I'll tell her, okay, love you guys too. See you soon. Bye."

He came over to me and pulled the pillow away from me. "Time to get up sleepy-head, we're going to the gym."

"Nooo." I moaned back. "It's far too early to work out."

"Don't give me that," this time he pulled the covers away. "Stephanie wants you to help motivate her in the gym. Steph's moms watching the girls for a little while. I wanna spend time with them before I go back to Nashua."

"Well then go," I grumbled, forgetting that I was sleeping in barely-there underwear. "I'm not stopping you. I don't mind staying in bed all day."

"I'll pour cold water on your naked ass if you don't get up in ten seconds." He threatened. When I didn't move, he made his way over to the bathroom.

"Okay, okay. I'll get up." I groaned, and sat up in bed. "I don't get why I have to be dragged along anyway."

"Because you can keep Steph company." Peter replied, heading towards the shower. "We're meeting them for breakfast in half an hour."

I was still half asleep by the time we met Paul and Stephanie for breakfast. Paul chuckled when he saw me.

"Am I allowed to say typical teenager?" He grinned when I scowled at him in reply.

"Leave her alone Paul." Stephanie scolded, she transferred her attention onto me. "You can be my trainer for the day."

In no mood for conversation, I just smiled.

"Give her another hour," Peter explained, passing me some toast. "Then she'll be her usual chipper self."

Precisely an hour later we were on our way to the gym. Paul and Peter went straight over to the benches and heavy lifting machines. Stephanie looked at me expectantly.

"What do you usually do first?" She asked me.

I led her over to the treadmills. She groaned.

"I don't usually go to the gym for anything except weights," I explained. "I usually go running and play football and boxing and stuff. This helps get your blood pumping."

I chose two treadmills that were operated with the one box, and we got started. I started off easy, I didn't know how far she could go. I was almost up to the fastest the machine could go before Stephanie waved her hand in front of my face.

"That's enough," her face was bright red. I began slowing the machine down. "Ooft. I haven't ran like that in months."

I smiled. Once we had warmed ourselves back down after the treadmill, I took her over to the rowing machines. She eyed them warily then gazed at me curiously.

"It's like doing sit-ups," I explained. "Without having to lie on the ground." I placed myself down and programmed the machine. She hadn't moved.

"After this you can choose what to do next." I felt like I was talking a five year-old... she seemed very self-concious about working out. "This pumps your heart as well as gets you in shape. It's one of the best fitness machines you can use."

She glanced around, making sure no-one was watching her, and we got down to it. We stayed on the rowing machines for half an hour before we gave that up. We went to get some water and when we got back in the gym, I waited for her to choose what we should do next. She glanced around the room for a little bit, looking like she was stuck for choice.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, when she chose to sit down on the floor instead of picking a machine. "You're acting like you've never been inside a gym before."

She shrugged. "I haven't had a proper work-out in like a year." She stared down at her body and sighed. "And it shows."

I rolled my eyes. "Well nows a better time than any to start isn't it?" She looked around about her again. "No-one's looking at you Stephanie. And even if they did recognise you, they know you had a baby a year ago. I think most people would admire you for focusing on being a mom rather than going back to size zero."

She smiled at me and nodded. "You're right... let's go back on the treadmill."

So we did the same thing again. I powered the machine, steadily increasing the speed. This time she made it up to the fullest speed, but after a few minutes we had to slow it down again.

"That's good," I encouraged her. "You have to focus on fitness before weight loss. You need to get fit before you can get in shape."

She nodded as we made our way over to the muscle machines.

"Is there any point me doing this if I don't have any muscles?" She asked me, eyeing the pec machine as though it was her worst enemy.

I fought hard not to roll my eyes again. "Stephanie, I know we don't know each other, but please, stop being so self-concious. From now on you do what I say and copy what I do, comprende?"

She giggled. "Yes Miss."

We mixed around the machines for another hour. I did ten reps on my legs, thighs, biceps and pecs before going over to the bench pressing. Stephanie copied everything that I did, but when I went to the press, she instead went back onto the rowing machines right beside me. I was enjoying Stephanie's company, but I felt like a cheat. I hadn't exercised as much as I normally did, and I felt bad because of it. This was basically half of my normal routine, because I didn't want to scare Stephanie away from exercising with my vigorous routine... she clearly wanted to get back in shape, but was just too scared to try and do it. I hadn't had a work out since Monday morning... I would definitely need to spend all day tomorrow making up for it.

"So what's going on with you and Peter?" Stephanie asked.

I kept on pressing. "What do you mean?"

She had stopped exercising long ago and was now just watching me. "Have you guys always just been friends or has there ever been... something more?"

I stopped and rolled over onto my front. "There was some romance... once."

She raised her eyebrows at me. "Oh really."

I blushed and nodded. "We got pretty drunk, his mom and sister were out. We started playing spin the bottle with only two people." She snorted. "And then one kiss turned to lots of kisses, which turned to fumbling, which turned to sex all night long."

We both caught each others eyes and burst out laughing. Drying tears away from my eyes, I sighed. "It was just a one night thing though. We didn't want to jeoparadise our friendship for something more."

"And was he good?" I stared at her. "You know," she nudged me. "In bed." She whispered the last part.

I snorted. "Oh God yeah, he was like as long as my arm and-"

"Ew!" she shrieked, slapping my hand. "I want details but not _those_ details."

I chuckled. "Sorry, but you asked if he was good. And well, he was the best I've ever had." My heart panged a little bit as I thought of the last person I'd had sex with before moving here, the only person I've ever been in love with. "And I've had some of the best." I turned back round to her. "Is Paul the best you've ever had?"

I was glad she didn't think I was being too forward with my question. She got this happy, far-off look in her eyes. I didn't even want to know what she was thinking about. "Oh yeah. Like, I thought I'd had good sex until I met him. And it seems as though the longer we've went on, the more passionate we've become. See when we first found out we were pregnant with Aurora, it was amazing. Then with Murphy, oh my God. It's like it just gets better and better as time goes by."

I grinned at how excited and happy she seemed to be getting. "No chance of you ever growing tired of each other then."

She suddenly grew serious. "No chance in hell."

We both giggled at the reference to her father, then collected our things together. We pondered on what to do next.

"D'yu wanna grab something to eat while they finish up?" Steph asked as we made our way into the foyer.

"Or we could get them out and all go for a swim?" I asked eagerly.

She hesitated, glancing down at her body.

"Steph, you have had two children and you still look smoking hot." I rolled my eyes and caught Peter's attention, beckoning them over to us. "Just relax and get in your swimming costume."

"But next to you I'll look huge." Stephanie whined.

"If you keep working out the way you did today, you'll look like me in no time." I rolled my eyes as Peter and Paul heard that last part. "Not that you want this body anyway."

"Mar you have a great body." Peter grinned at me. "Stop being so humble."

"Wanna go for a swim?" I asked, ignoring Peter and instead going into the nearby locker. "I haven't had a swim in a good while."

"Sure," I heard Paul say. Then I heard Stephanie giggle.

"There'll be none of that in the pool." Peter grumbled, I heard him go in the locker next to me. I quickly changed into my bikini and tied my hair up on top of my head. Steph and I were the first ones out the lockers. I saw her eyes travel up and down my body, resting on my stomach. I suddenly felt self-concious and cursed myself out for not bringing a one piece.

"If you looked at me like that can you imagine what he'll look at me like," I muttered to her as I put my stuff back inside and locked the locker.

Stephanie chuckled. "If I looked like that, I'd want people looking at me too."

Paul came out, caught sight of me, and whistled. Stephanie swatted his arm with a scowl. In response he pulled her in close for a kiss, and she brightened up instantly.

"How many can you press?" Paul asked as we waited on Peter joining us.

"I stopped at 300," I grinned as they both shared a look of disbelief. "I wanna be strong, but not that strong."

Paul laughed and turned to his wife. "We have got to get her on our roster."

Stephanie smiled as Peter eventually walked out in his surf shorts. My eyes feasted on his ribbed torso. He may be my best friend, but damn was he nice to look at. I could tell by the way he stared back at me that he felt the same way.

"Before you two devour each other with your eyes," Paul cut in, slapping Pete across the back of the head. "We would like to get some swimming done."

Peter rolled his eyes and followed his uncle to the pool. "We'll only keep our eyes off each other if you two keep your hands off each other."

Stephanie pouted. "You're no fun."

As we got in the pool, Peter and I did a couple of laps before racing each other a few times. When we had decided that we had had enough of serious pool-time, we began goofing off. At first he was just chasing me around the pool and tickling me whilst holding me underwater. Eventually Steph and I went in a team against Paul and Peter and began throwing my locker-key to each other. When we had finally tired of that, we got out and got changed.

"Lunch?" Stephanie asked brightly as we made our way back out to Paul's car.

"We really need to go back and start packing," Peter said apolegitcally.

"How about dinner then before you guys fly back?" Paul asked as we began our short drive back to the hotel.

Peter glanced at me and I grinned in reply. "That sounds good. Where will we-"

"I'll take care of it," Paul said shortly. "It'll be a nice celebratory dinner for you. Somewhere fancy so dress up. We'll pick you up at 5."

As we entered back into the hotel, Peter collapsed onto his bed while I started gathering up all my clothes.

"We don't need to pack straight away," he stared at me. "I just meant that we needed the afternoon free."

I shrugged. "I need to make sure we have absolutely everything. And I need to decide what to wear."

"Yeah, we'll be here all night then- ow!" He yelped as my shoe came flying and connected with the side of his head. He glared at me and I stared back innocently. I turned back to packing my suitcase when I suddenly felt his hands wrap around my waist. As he began tickling me, I began shrieking loudly.

"Oh my God Peter stop!" I screamed. Tears of laughter rolled down my cheeks. "No really please-"

"Don't hit me with a shoe again." He growled, flinging me onto the bed. He still kept at it.

"No honestly Pete I can't breathe." He stopped tickling me but still lay on top of me. I gasped for air as we both calmed down.

"That was fun." I said eventually.

"Yeah." He suddenly sounded sad.

"What's wrong?" I asked, propping myself up on the bed with my elbow. He was staring up at the ceiling.

"Marley, will you come on the road with me?" His gaze never left mine as I felt my cheeks beginning to redden.

"I don't think that would be a good idea Peter." I moved away from him on the bed.

"Why not?" He asked, sitting upright. "It would be fun."

"And what would I do while you're wrestling huh?" I couldn't help but suddenly feel angry. I had been dreading this moment, but now it was finally here. "I'll just waste all my money, leave my job and my family to follow you around for six months doing absolutely nothing but sitting on my fat ass. No thanks, I think I'll pass."

I got up and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. After a few moments, I heard him leave the room. Breathing deeply, I leant against the bathtub. It wasn't that I didn't want to travel with him... travelling as part of the WWE was stuff that only dreams were made of... But I didn't just want to follow him around like a little lapdog, frittering away money and not making any in. I had a steady job at a local music store in Nashua, I had friends and family and pets to think about. I couldn't just chuck all that and hope for the best and hope that Peter would help me out financially. I didn't want to have to rely on him like that. I needed my independance, and I needed to be able to support myself. I wouldn't be able to do that if I went on the road with him.

I quickly finished packing my case and chose a dark green halter-top and black dress pants to wear out to dinner. I set them out on the bed and went in for a shower and to fix my hair. I blow-dried and straightened my hair in the bathroom, and so I didn't hear Peter get back. Forgetting that he might have come back while I was showering, I went out to get my outfit wearing nothing but my bra and panties. I stopped dead when I noticed him lying on his bed. He stared at me but said nothing, instead just watching me as I walked over to the bed, collected my clothes, and hurried back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. Once I was dressed, I let Peter in to use the shower and applied my make-up slowly. I fished out my black peep toes and wore the earrings and necklace Peter had bought me just last weekend. I checked once more that I had everything ready in my case and just as Peter came out of the bathroom to fix his hair, wearing a black dress shirt and jeans, someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it." I muttered, as Peter began applying his hair gel. I hurried over to the door and, glancing through the peep-hole, opened the door to greet Stephanie and Paul.

"Hey come on in." I smiled, opening the door wider. "We're almost ready."

"You look great." Stephanie said as she hugged me.

"So do you." I smiled back and returned the hug whole-heartedly.

"Ready Casanova?" Paul teased his nephew. "Looking to pull tonight are you?"

Peter scowled in reply. "I'll be two minutes." He stormed back into the bathroom. Paul and Stephanie glanced at each other in confusion, then looked at me for an explanation.

I rolled my eyes. "We had a bit of a fight."

They both nodded knowingly.

"If you'll leave your room key," Paul said. "Then I can have your bags brought down to the foyer so that the limo can pick them up on your way to the airport. It'll save you having to cart them down to get to the airport on time."

I found this very sweet. "Thanks Paul, you don't need to do that."

He shrugged. "It's no trouble."  
"So when will we be seeing you again?" Stephanie asked me brightly as we walked ahead of Paul and Peter towards the elevator.

I hesitated as I felt Peter's eyes on me. "I'm not sure."

"You should come on the road for a few weeks," Stephanie obliviously carried on. "It would be a lot of fun for you. It'll be a while before there's another show in Conneticuit."

"I'll see what other plans I have." I said with a tight smile as we all crammed in the elevator. Paul got some funny looks from a little Japanese couple but other than that the limo ride to the restaurant was uneventful. When we began the meal, Peter started talking to me again. Although I could tell it was more to stop Paul and Stephanie from asking any questions rather than wanting to actually speak to me. Even so, we were very cold towards each other. I avoided his eye at all costs, and instead sat chatting to Stephanie for most of the evening.

"You don't have much luck with motorcycles do you?" Stephanie asked in concern as I described my two motorbike accidents.

I shrugged. "It was just unlucky the first time and downright cocky the second time... it hasn't put me off riding though."

"You should have seen her when she got out of hospital," Peter piped up, causing Paul to also turn his attention onto our conversation. "Her arm was in a sling, her face was all cut and bruised, she couldn't walk, could barely breathe... and the first thing she says to me is "Is the bike okay?""

I smiled shyly. "It was a brand new bike!! It's not his fault I tried to flip over and failed."

Paul laughed. "What exactly did you hurt?"

"Dislocated shoulder, two cracked ribs, fractured cheekbone, fractured skull, torn ACL, dislocated ankle." Peter counted them all on his fingers then glanced at me. "Am I right?"

I nodded shyly as Paul and Stephanie just gaped at me. "It was a pretty bad fall."

"How long ago did this happen?" Paul asked, looking intrigued.

Peter and I shared a glance.

"About two months ago maybe." I shrugged. "I think it happened in like August or something."

"And do you still feel the effects of the accident?" Stephanie asked sincerely.

I shook my head. "Whenever I bang my head it kinda stings a little bit, same with my ribs... other than that it's fine. I haven't done any wrestling since the accident, so I dunno how my ACL would hold up. But I think I've recovered fully from it."

"You were lucky." Peter remarked. "She wasn't wearing a helmet." He added to his aunt and uncle, who both looked at me with expressions of disdain.

"I know, I know." I held up my hands in defeat. "I could have died. I know. But mud got on my visor and I would have crashed anyway if I hadn't taken the damn thing off. It was just unfortunate that Peter got in the way of my landing otherwise I would have been fine."

Peter blushed as we all stared at him. "Yeah, I thought you might bring that up."

"Uh huh." I rolled my eyes as Stephanie giggled. "He sits and preaches to me about wearing helmets and not being so reckless... that's the first and only time I have fucked up a flip... and it was only because I was trying to avoid hitting him!"

After that conversation, Peter and I forgot our argument and began talking again like normal. At 7, the limo came to get us to take us straight to the airport - it had already been to the hotel to collect our bags. Paul and Stephanie decided to accompany us to the airport. Peter was quiet during the journey, but brightened up when we arrived at the air strip that would fly us McMahon-style back to Nashua.

"It was so great to meet you both." I hugged Paul and came to hug Stephanie. She grabbed me and squeezed me so tight my ribs howled in protest.

"We'll see you again soon." Stephanie nodded adamantly. "I won't hear otherwise."

I grinned and blew them both a kiss. "Say bye to Aurora, Murphy and Sonja for me!"

They waved as we boarded the plane, then they got into the limo and drove off. Even though I'd already been on this jet, it still felt weird sitting down in the same seats that Vince McMahon always used. I felt uncomfortable, but Peter felt right at home. The moment the plane took off, he called his mom to let her know we were on our way home and afterwards I did the same. We didn't do much talking on the short flight... we both just kind of stared out the windows and contemplated about the future. Eventually I couldn't take the silence, so I went over and sat in his lap.

"Can I help you?" He asked, looking surprised but amused.

"I'm sorry about earlier." I said, leaning my head on his shoulder. "I just don't want to have to depend on you."

"I know." He sighed heavily. "It's unfair of me to ask you to just leave your life and come with me. I understand."

"It's not that I don't want to come," I said softly. "You know that I would love to come... it's just... I think this is maybe the best thing for us to do. I mean, travelling together for another six months would only bring us even closer. At least this way we'll get used to being apart, so when April comes... it won't be so bad when I leave."

"That's what you think." He muttered darkly. I made to get off his lap but he pulled me close. "Just promise you won't forget me."

I felt tears sting my eyes. "I could never forget you."

And we stayed that way until the plane eventually landed in Nashua. As we got off and collected our bags, I noticed Pete's mom Lynne waiting for us. I felt confused. Why weren't my parents here??!! I followed Peter over to his mom, and Lynne notified us that my parents were waiting at Lynne's house. They had decided to get together so that both of our families could celebrate together the signing of Peter to Smackdown. Peter seemed touched by this gesture and I could tell he was anxious to get home. What we didn't expect was the reception committee that was there to greet us when we finally walked into Peter's home.

"SURPRISE!" The screams of our families and friends caused me to jump about a foot in the air, I could hear Peter laughing right behind me.

"Surprise indeed." Peter grinned and went forward to hug his sister. I moved a little bit further into the room and was grabbed in a bear-hug by my mother.

"Did you have fun?" she asked me.

I grinned. "It was the best two days of my life."

"Glad to hear it." My dad patted me on the back. "It was the best two days of our life as well without you!"

I laughed and hugged them both again before I went over to greet our friends who had all showed up to help celebrate the special occaision.

"Marley!" Adele shrieked, lunging forward and grabbing my neck, planting a big juicy kiss on my lips. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"I've been gone two days Adele not two years!" I grinned and hugged each of my girlfriends one by one.

"It's been boring two days without you both," Francey nodded, twirling her drink around in her glass. "AJ's been missing you a lot as well."

My stomach did a little flip as I noticed Aj himself making his way over to me.

"Hey beautiful." He said with a smile. He leant in for a kiss and I obliged. I heard the girls giggling behind us.

"Enough of that," Daisy shrieked. "There's children here you know."

I rolled my eyes and pulled Aj over a little bit. "Wanna go for a walk?"

Aj nodded and grinned. "I'll get us a drink."

I glanced around looking for Peter, and I saw him deep in talk with the rest of his boys. He had a drink in each hand and a couple sitting waiting for him on the table, the guys were clapping him on the back and hugging him. I felt happy for him. This was his life's dream finally coming true. I was glad all the people he loved were able to be here with him to celebrate it.

"Ready?" Aj appeared again with a vodka in each hand. Taking my drink from him, I grabbed his hand and led him out the back door towards the huge forrest area that seperated mine and Peter's homes.

"So how are you?" Aj asked, slipping his arm around my shoulders as we neared the trees. I didn't want to go right into the woods - they were scary at night - but I did want to go far away from the house so that we wouldn't be seen.

"I'm good," I smiled at him and accepted another kiss. "It was so great just hanging out with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. It was like a dream."

Aj laughed and rolled his eyes. "Next time it'll be you coming home and telling us you've got a wrestling contract."

I took a sip of my drink. "Would that be such a bad thing?"

Aj shrugged and leant against a nearby tree. "Not for you maybe. But I would miss you."

I sighed and went over to were he stood. I pressed my body against his for warmth, and kissed him passionately. "I would never leave you permanently."

"But you will," he looked at me sadly. "In six months time."

I sighed again. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that."

He looked as though he was about to open his mouth and argue, but instead he pulled me close and kissed me again. We stood like that for a few minutes, before his hand started travelling down to my crotch area. I moaned into his mouth and pulled away.

"We can't do this here." I whispered to him. "My parents are over there in that house."

He grinned wickedly at me. "No-one would ever know."

I rolled my eyes and let him kiss my neck. "Why is everyone acting like we've been gone for more than two days?"

"Because time goes slower when you're not around." Was his muffled reply. Oh what the hell? I grabbed his head and smashed my mouth against his. We weren't even a proper couple... we had never asked each other out or forbidden each other from seeing other people. We had been kissing and stuff and hanging out almost everyday for about two months now... but we had been sex buddies a lot longer than that. As we stood kissing and groping each other, I found myself forgetting about my parents being just a few hundred feet away, and instead I just enjoyed being pleasured by my boyfriend. We only sprang apart when I heard voices coming from Peter's house... some people had spilled out onto the back porch and were dancing around happily. I sighed and pecked him on the lips one last time. He leant his forehead against mine and breathed deeply.

"You can't leave me like this." He whispered, and I knew what he was talking about. I could feel just how hot and happy he was with me, it was pressed against my stomach. I kissed him again and rubbed him a little bit till he calmed down.

"Tomorrow." I promised, with a kiss on his nose. "We'll spend the whole day together."

His face lit up. "Will you come round to mine after work?"

Ew. I forgot I had to work. "Sure."

He grabbed my hand and dragged me back towards the house. I felt very happy, holding onto his hand as I finished my drink. We met Adele, Kody, Daisy, Chace, Francey, Johnny, Gwen, Max, Jess and Peter out on the porch, goofing around and just having good natured drunken fun.

"And where did you two sneak off to huh?" Kody asked, wiggling his eyebrows at us. I just flipped him off and deposited Aj onto the porch swing. I grabbed his glass and kissed his cheek.

"I'll be right back." I smiled at my friends and skipped back into the house. It was much more quieter now that all our group were outside. All that was left in the living room was my parents, Peter's mom, Peter's grandparents and Kody and Max's parents, who had known Peter and his family since before Peter was born. I popped my head around the door to say a quick hello to everyone, but before I could run back to the kitchen, Peter's grandfather Paul Sr. called me back in the room.

"How did you like meeting Paul and Steph?" he asked with a good natured grin.

I grinned back at him. "They were amazing. It was so surreal meeting them. But like, they're so down-to-earth you forget who they are and just have fun with them."

Peter's grandmother laughed. "They'll love that when they find out you said that. How are my lovely granddaughters?"

I smiled again. "They're doing great as well. Aurora's a wee chatterbox, she's so cute. And Murphy's just trying to eat everything and everyone."

I made to leave the room again when I noticed two people missing. "Where are Scott and Nayssa?"

"Upstairs." My mum replied. I raised my eyebrows playfully. My brother and Peter's sister? Upstairs? Alone?? They all laughed.

"They're with Brandon and Drew." Lynne explained, waving me away playfully. Brandon, Kody's brother, was Nayssa's age (eleven), whilst Drew, Max's little sister, was the same age as Scott, (fourteen). They had met my brother through Nayssa and now the four of them, when not at school were inseperable. Despite his denial, I was certain that Scott had a thing for Drew... and it was plainly obvious for everyone to see that Drew had it bad for Scott. I poured myself and Aj another vodka before going back out onto the porch.

"You took your time." Aj called out as I made my way through my dancing friends to hand him his drink.

"I was talking to Peter's family." I explained, settling myself down on the swing. "Sorry I took so long."

He nuzzled into my neck. "That's okay." I couldn't help but giggle slightly.

"May I have your attention please?" Kody slurred, getting to his feet and standing atop the table. We all instantly fell silent and just stood waiting for him to speak. "A toast." He raised his glass, and we all laughed as beer slopped onto his face. "To Peter - the newest WWE Superstar... and a future World Champion. TO PETER!"

"TO PETER!" We all roared back in return.

"A new romance also seems to be afloat." Max nodded his head to just behind where me and Aj were sitting. We turned round and saw Peter and Jess tonguing each other so enthusiastically we all instantly began hooting and hollering at them.

"You'll swallow her whole!" Johnny joked, falling silent after Francey nudged him in the ribs.

"At least we went somewhere private to do that!" Aj called out, recieving a rude gesture from Peter in return. "You guys have no class, honestly."

"Hey M," My head snapped round to acknowledge Kody. "You alright?"

I nodded, feeling embarrassed at being caught watching Peter tongue one of my friends. I shook away the strange feelings that had suddenly washed over me and quickly jumped to my feet.

"Who wants to play two man hunt?" I called out, recieving a lot of screams in return.

"Back porch is base!" Kody took charge. "Girl and boy groups - no couples!" He added sternly to Adele, who had put her arm around his waist.

Adele pouted. "That's no fun!"

"Who's it?" Peter called out.

Kody raised his hand. "I'll start. Em, will you be my partner?"

I nodded and happily skipped up to stand beside him. Adele grabbed Aj's hand and dragged him away. Peter went with Francey, Max went with Daisy, Gwen went with Johnny while Chace went with Jess.

"Count to one hundred slowly." Chace ordered us as they all snuck away.

"AND NO PEEKING!" We heard Francey scream.

I chuckled and covered Kody's eyes while we started to count.

"READY OR NOT HERE WE COME!" Kody yelled, bouncing off of the porch. We hadn't even reached fifty yet. I rolled my eyes and motioned for Kody to be more quiet. I ran up to the kitchen and turned out the lights.

"Hey that's not fair!" I heard Johnny yell out. "How are we meant to find our way to base?"

"Shut up Johnny!" Came Gwen's reprimand. "They'll find us."

Chuckling, Kody and I went searching for our friends. The game ran on way into the night. It got so late that my parents along with Kody and Max's parents came to tell us that they were heading home. Kody and Max decided to stay over due to their houses being so far away, and agreed to walk me through the woods when I decided to go home. As Kody and I hid on the outskirts of the trees, I could tell by Kody's body language that there was something serious on his mind... but he wasn't saying.

"Spill." I whispered. He glanced at me in confusion.

"Huh?" He whispered back, while on the lookout to make sure Johnny and Gwen weren't anywhere near us.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked. "You seem distracted."

Kody just stared at me strangely. "I saw the way you were looking at Peter."

I froze. "Wh- what does that mean?"

"You didn't like seeing him kissing Jess did you?" he decided to screw being caught and instead dragged me down so that we were both sitting on the ground.

I nervously twisted my hands. "It's not that I didn't _like_ seeing him kiss her... it's just..."

"Weird?" He helped out.

I nodded slowly. "It felt weird. I don't know why. It's hard to explain. I suddenly felt this weird feeling rise up in me... I couldn't explain it or make it go away...."

"Jealousy maybe?" I could tell he was starting to enjoy himself. I thumped him on the arm and he grew serious once more.

"I have no reason to be jealous so why should I be." I said, staring up at the sky. "I'm practically with Aj, and now it looks as though he's with Jess... Peter and I are best friends. Why do I care so much?"

"Maybe because you're his best friend?" Kody suggested. "You don't want to see him get hurt. Cuz, I mean, I love Jess and all... but we all know her reputation."

I giggled. "You're right. But I dunno. It's strange, but there's nothing I can do about it. Maybe it was just the shock of seeing them together... he never mentioned that he liked her."

He stared at me for a few more moments. "Yeah..." We could hear shrieking over to our right, he quickly scrambled to his feet, pulling me up with him. "We should make a run for base now."

"Kody, wait," I held onto his arm and he turned to stare at me. "How did you know the way I was looking at him?"

Kody hesitated a moment, then stared me straight in the eye. "Because you looked at him the same way he looks at you everytime he sees you with Aj."

Before I could even digest this piece of information, I could hear Gwen's squeals.

"There's someone over at the trees," I heard Johnny whisper.  
"Let's sneak up on them." I made a mental note, as Kody and I slipped out of the trees and began sprinting towards the house, to teach Gwen how to whisper properly. When we reached the house, bent double trying to catch our breath, we noticed that everyone had already made it back to base safely.

"Johnny and Gwen suck at this game," Chace sniggered.

"And Gwen sucks at whispering." They all laughed as I sat myself down with Aj, making sure to kiss him in full view of Peter. When I looked up, Peter wasn't looking at us but over to where we could now hear Gwen and Johnny yelling. Kody, however, was glaring at me pointedly.

"Dude," Max called out. "Come back. Everyone's here."

"SEE, I TOLD YOU YOU SUCKED AT THIS GAME!" Came Gwen's hysterical screech. We were all in hysterics by the time Johnny and Gwen, looking a little bit the worse for wear, came plodding up to join us.

"I'm never going in his team again." Gwen pouted. Max sprung up and went to comfort his girlfriend.

"As amazing as this night has been guys," Peter said with a small smile. I noticed him and Jess, despite their earlier closeness, seemed to be avoiding each other. "It's time for everyone to bounce."

There was a collective murmer as everyone got to their feet and brought all the emptys over to the trash. Adele, Gwen, Daisy and Chace all bade goodnight first, I hugged and kissed them all and promised them I would hang with them on Friday. Francey waited patiently for Johnny before they too left, leaving only myself, Peter, Kody, Jess and Max.


	3. Chapter 3

As Max and I finished cleaning up in the kitchen, I decided to go through to the living room to grab my bag before the guys walked me home. I walked in and saw Jess and Peter talking. It looked rather serious, Jess looked pretty upset. I froze, not knowing what to do at first. Eventually I decided to just stand behind the door. I wasn't _deliberately_ trying to eavesdrop... honest!! I just didn't want to have to go back in the kitchen and explain why I had come back without my bag. Max and Kody wouldn't let Pete hear the end of this - having a fight with the new girlfriend on the day they hooked up - so really I was doing Pete a favour.

"I know that it's confusing," Peter ran a hand through his hair. "But it was a mistake. I don't have feelings for you in that way... I'm really sorry."

"So you just did it to get a few reactions then huh?" Jess's eyes were swimming with tears. "No, of course not. It was just the one reaction in particular wasn't it?"

"I don't know what you-"

"Oh save it Peter." Jess cried. "I know what goes around about me. That I'm an easy lay. Up for anything. Never any strings attached. Well here's a news flash for you Peter, you shouldn't believe everything you hear!! If you think you can just kiss me and touch me like that then expect me to not care a minute later then you are sadly mistaken. I can't believe I even thought we could have something between us."

I could tell Peter was trying to keep his cool, but he looked seriously pissed. "I don't care what other people think. It was a mistake that was fueled by alcohol. I don't even get why you're making such a big deal. It was one kiss, get over it."

"Why the hell did you do it?" She asked. "It's only going to cause yourself more pain."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, his jaw set.  
"I see the way you look at her," Jess was now looking more angry than upset. "I saw you looking at her the whole night. Hoping that she would see us kissing. That's the only reason you did it isn't it? Well, it's your loss because not only did she not see us... but she's just as loved up with Aj as she always was."

My mouth dropped open in shock. I had had enough of this.

I cleared my throat as I entered into the room. They both jumped and looked mortified.

"Sorry," I said with fake politeness, but I shot daggers at Jess with my eyes. "Am I interrupting something?"

Peter glanced at Jess, who rolled her eyes. "No. I was just leaving."

Once she left, there was an awkward silence in her wake.

"Mar-" he began.

I held up my hand. "Forget it. It's been a long day, I really want to get home to bed."

Peter nodded and handed me my bag. "I'll walk you home."

Despite protests from myself, Max and Kody, Peter was adamant that he walked me through the woods alone.

"But what if something happens to you?" I whispered. I was feeling seriously creeped out by these woods.

"I've been walking through these woods in the dark since I was five years old," he replied, taking my hand and squeezing it encouragingly. "I know them like the back of my hand."

There were a few moments of silence, before I decided to breach the topic I had overheard just ten minutes previously.

"I take it you and Jess aren't gonna be boyfriend and girlfriend anytime soon huh?"

He gave a hollow laugh. "You heard everything didn't you?"

I nodded, then remembered he probably wouldn't see my face in the dark. "Yeah."

"Listen, Mar-"

"Peter, please don't. There's really no need to talk about it."

"Would you stop doing that?" he burst out angrily.

"Doing what?" I asked indignantly.

"Talking over me all the time. Cutting me off before you even know what I'm going to say."

"I do know what you're going to say."

"And that is?"

"You're going to say something that I don't want to hear."

"But what if I was going to tell you about how I feel?"

"I still wouldn't want to hear it."

"Why not?"

"Because I feel the same way."  
We both stopped dead in our tracks, staring at each other. Every fibre of my being was screaming out for me to just grab him and kiss him all over. I managed to hold myself back, but only just. I now knew what those feelings were when I seen Peter kissing Jessica. Envy. Pure, unadultered envy. I didn't want to see Peter kissing Jess or any other girl for that matter, because I was the one who desperately wanted to be kissed by him. I was the one who desperately wanted to be with him as more than just his best friend. I was the one who was in love with him.

"You would feel the same way?" Peter whispered.

"I-I." I faltered. _Coward_. I thought as I made to walk away.

"No you don't." Peter grabbed my wrist and swung me back round. My heel caught on a tree branch and I fell forward with a shriek. At the last second he caught me in his arms, and when he straightened up, our faces were almost touching. "I'm not letting you run away from this. I'm not letting you run away from us."

"There is no us." I spat viciously. Things were hitting too close to home. I didn't want us to be doing this. Peter was my best friend!! I couldn't let myself fall for him. If we went out, it would jeoparadise everything we had as our friendship. And I wasn't giving that up for anything.

"Maybe not right now." his lips looked so soft, so kissable. Not even the knowledge that a couple of hours ago, Jess had been kissing them could make me stop fantasizing about them. "But we could be."

"When?" I scoffed. "When you're travelling as a wrestler? Or when I'm back home on the other side of the world?"

"Why are you fighting this?" He asked in exasperation. "Why are you fighting your feelings?"

"Because they are terrifying me!" I burst out. "I'm fighting my feelings because they are so strong they kill me every time I look at you. I'm fighting my feelings because I know we'll be torn apart in six months time and I don't want to put myself through that. I'm fighting my feelings because I think I'm falling in love with my best friend!"

He stared at me, long and hard.

"Well then, that makes two of us."

And suddenly he was kissing me. And oh, what wonderful kissing it was. My mind was blank at first, I couldn't believe we were in this position again. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him back wholeheartedly....

_"Marley? Marley?"_

_Not now doofus, I'm kissing Peter._

_"Marley, it's almost 8 o'clock... you'll be late for work."_

_Screw work, I'm kissing the man I- wait, what????_

My mum was standing over my bed, daylight streamed in from the open window.

"You better hurry up and get ready or else you'll be late." She said on her way out.

I just lay there, too stunned to even take in what she had just said.

It had all been a dream. A wonderful, glorious dream. I hadn't caught Jess and Peter arguing... Peter hadn't walked me through the woods on his own... we hadn't professed our love for each other. I fell back onto my pillow with a grateful sigh as the nights events came flooding back to me. Max, Kody and Peter had all walked me home, and there hadn't even been a mention of Jess or AJ or anyone else for that matter. Peter and I mostly listened to Max and Kody argue over who was better at guitar. I couldn't help but laugh at the ridulousness of the entire thing. But as I got up and began getting ready for work, I couldn't help but feel a little bummed that the entire thing was all in my head.

Because, the more I thought about it... the more I realised that I was in love with my best friend.

But was it worth risking our friendship for?


	4. Chapter 4

_AN : I had awful writers block for this chapter, it's more a transitional chapter to fast-forward a few days so it's really short and kinda crap._

"So how did it feel being around the WWE for the day?" My fellow Fopp co-worker Lennon asked.

I was stacking the shelves after what had been a pretty boring and unevenftul shift. It was nearing five o'clock and Aj had agreed to pick me up when my shift ended. I was looking forward to it but also dreading it. I hadn't been able to get my dream out of my mind the whole day, and I didn't want to picture Peter when I was kissing Aj... that would just be too weird.

"It was amazing." I sighed happily, sorting through all the CD's scattered at my ankles. "Everyone's so nice. I was even in the ring with Triple H."

Lennon, bless his heart, tried to look enthusiastic about this piece of knowledge, but his inability to enjoy wrestling shone through. "That's great."

I grinned at him as I began putting all the CD's back in the box to take through to the back. "It's been an amazing few days. I still can't believe my best friend is now a WWE Superstar."

Lennon laughed. "You've said this about a dozen times this past hour alone."

I stuck my tongue out at him playfully as I made my way through to the back. The shop had been empty all day... which was unusual. What it meant, however, was that I'd been able to spend the whole day just sitting about daydreaming and thinking back to the previous nights events. Was Peter gonna get together with Jess? Jess wasn't that big a wrestling fan, but I knew when asked she would totally take advantage of the opportunity to travel with Peter. Did I really want that? Not only did the thought of Peter and Jess together really piss me off... but thinking of her touring with the wrestlers and being around the WWE so often just downright made my skin crawl.

"That's almost five." Lennon said, taking the box from my hands. "I can shut down here."

"Are you sure?" I asked. Aj said he would call when he was on his way... I didn't want to have to stand outside by myself for ages like a complete fool. "I don't really need to rush off."

Lennon shrugged. "It's been quiet all day. I'll just put this box back and start closing up shop. Off you go."

I gave him a quick hug, collected my bag and jacket and skipped outside into the fresh Nashua air. I walked along the sidewalk for a few minutes just staring at my feet, wondering how excited Peter must be to know that he was going to be on live television as a professional wrestler. It still hurt every time I thought about us being seperated, but I still firmly believed that this was for the best. It would make me leaving for Scotland in six months time much easier to grow accustomed to. My mind began to wander back to last night's dream... the feeling of Peter's imaginary lips on mine sent shivers down my spine.

"Hey pretty lady, fancy a ride?"

Grinning, I turned to look at Aj, leaning against his car with a cheeky smirk on his face. The top was down in his car, causing the wind to have messed up his hair in the most perfect way possible. His dark brown eyes bored into mine hungrily, and I knew what was on his mind.

"I hope you can wait a while before we eat." His voice was low and husky. "Because I'm only hungry for one thing right now."

Ummmm, Peter who?


	5. Chapter 5

"MARLEY!!"

That was the scream that greeted me when I got home from work on Saturday night. The weekend had mainly been spent with Aj... in his bed... having fun. We had certainly made up for our two days apart.. that and more. I had been to see Peter once or twice, but we had mostly talked online. His kiss with Jess had apparently been just that - a kiss. Peter had informed me in all seriousness that he wanted to focus on getting his career started right now... and that a girlfriend was too much of a distraction at the moment. I'll be honest when I say I felt pretty relieved to hear that.

"What?" Bewildered, I stared around me... eventually seeing Scott bouncing up and down in the kitchen, phone in hand.

"MARLEY!!" He did that weird scream again, and as I entered the kitchen, he thrust the phone in my hand.

"Stephanie McMahon's on the phone." His eyes were almost bulging out of his head. Despite not being a wrestling fan - in fact, he loved to tell me how stupid it was - this was the first and only celebrity to ever call at our house... so this was a big deal for him. "Stephanie. Fucking. McMahon. Why the fuck is she phoning you?"

I shoved him towards the door. "That's for me to know and you to find out dear."

I shut the door on his scowling face and settled myself down at the kitchen table. "He-llo?"

"Hey Marley." Wow, so he wasn't kidding, Stephanie was actually calling me. "How are you?"

"I'm good Stephanie." I couldn't help but grin. If only my friends could see me now. "And you?"

"Oh I'm fine." She cleared her throat. There was a short silence... one that was thick with tension. I could tell there was something on her mind.

"So.. uh," I paused, figuring that Peter had given her my number. _But why?_ "What can I do for you?"

"I have a proposition for you."

I smirked. "I dunno if Peter failed to tell you but I don't swing that way."

She laughed. "Funny. No, listen, I want you to come on the road with us."

I sighed. "Steph, you know I can't do that."

"No, but I have something that you can do..." Was it just me or did she sound apprehensive??

"What can I do other than waste money and sit about watching Peter perform??"

"Well, you can be my trainer." There was a short silence on the phone.

"Define trainer." I said eventually.

"Well, I badly want to get back in shape. And you really know how to get me motivated. I have never worked out the way I worked out with you since before Murphy was born. You could come on the road with us and you could help get me back in shape everyday."

"I dunno Stephanie," I began.

"I'll pay you for it."

"That's not the point, I'm leaving to go back to Scotland in six months. As much as I would love to do what you're offering, I don't want to disappear from my family for five days a week."

"It would only last six months... and, well, that's what I've been meaning to talk to you about... I have another proposition for you.... something that you can do whilst you help train me. Something that could benefit you in the long run."

"Oh," this sounded intriguing. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well I've been trying to find out a lot about you from Peter," She cleared her throat. "And he told me you're into writing."

I groaned. "I'm going to kill him."

"I want you to be my intern." She blurted out.

Another short silence.

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I'm serious." She paused. "You can sit in on all the meetings with me, help me with my job. You would kinda be like my assistant, only you would be helping me out with the creative end as well."

"What do you mean by helping out?" This was not happening.

"Well, if you had any ideas or any suggestions then I would be happy to hear them. It would give you creative experience not to mention you would be able to be more understanding as to how the WWE works from a creative standpoint."

"Have you spoken to your father about this or did you just think about this right now?"

"I've been thinking about it since last Tuesday. I could really do with an extra pair of hands and I know that the experience and responsibility could help you in whichever career you decide to follow."

Hmm, thankfully Peter hadn't seemed to have mentioned my wanting to be a wrestler. "That's a really generous offer Stephanie."

"You would have a weekly salary, your own office in Stanford and you would basically go wherever I go." She explained. "Hotel expenses are covered, as are travel expenses."

This was way too much to think about in the one conversation. "Is it okay if I have time to think about and get back to you? I need to talk to my mum and dad about this."

"Of course," she said gently. "I don't want to force you into anything. I just know you'll enjoy yourself... plus this way you don't need to be seperated from Peter."

I decided to ignore that last part. "Well, thanks again for the offer Stephanie. You really don't know what you're doing for me."

She chuckled. "I think I do. Call me later."

As I hung up the phone, I stared at the floor for a moment. Landing a job like this was something that I had dreamed about for years. Not only would it let me be around wrestling on a regular basis, but I would be able to fulfill my writing and creative cravings at the same time. Sure, it wasn't a wrestling job, but it was the next best thing. I could learn loads from interning with Stephanie, and the travelling part would be fun. The thought of such independance intimidated me. I had never been away from home like this before... hell, I had never had such responsibility before. The training thing didn't really bother me... it meant I would be able to exercise and help someone else get in shape at the same time. But the thought of being with Stephanie 7 days a week, doing everything she did, helping oversee everything she oversaw... it thrilled and frightened and excited and nauseated me all at the same time.

"Who was that?" Mum asked as she entered the kitchen. She got one good look at my face and her smile disappeared. "What's wrong?"

I stared at her for a few moments. "Stephanie McMahon just asked me to be her intern and personal trainer."

My mum clearly had no clue the significance of this, because she just stared at me blankly. I sighed.

"She wants me to help get her back in shape," I explained slowly. "And she wants me to intern with her at the WWE."  
"What would that entail?" My dad asked from behind me, I hadn't known he had heard what I said.

"Sitting in on the creative meetings with her," I turned to him. "Putting forth any ideas or suggestions that I may have. I would help her out with all the parts of her job, sort of like her assisstant. She's paying me for it. It would mean I would travel with Stephanie wherever she went. It would last six months so I'd be done by the time we go back home." I paused, they both waited for me to carry on. Moment of truth. "It would mean I would be away from home most days each week."

They shared a glance. "How many days?"

"At most five." My mum winced. "The least would probably be three."

"That's a long time to be on the road." My dad remarked.

I nodded. "But it would let me travel around a bit. Plus the responsibilty and independance would be good for me. Not to mention the experience I would be able to gain... it would give me really good chances of landing any journalism or media spots I went after. Now that Paul's on Smackdown, Stephanie probably won't go to that many RAW shows. I would be home every Thursday, most Friday's and Sunday's and probably every Monday as well depending on where the Smackdown taping is each week."

They shared another look between them. I stood silently waiting for their verdict.

"How are you going to afford the travelling?" My mum asked.

This was the hard part. "I still have most of my wages... Stephanie's paying me a weekly salary for both the internship and the training. She says that my hotel and travel expenses are all covered."

"And what are you going to do with all that money when the six months comes to an end?" My dad asked. "It would be pointless converting it into British money, it would be worthless."

I just stared at him, did he mean what I think he meant?

"I don't know where I'll be at the end of the six months," I said slowly. Wondering what _would_ actually happen when the time came to leave... would I actually want to? "But I'm looking at this as a job opportunity to gain experience before I go back home and try to start a new career. Plus it would be a great personal experience as well being around the WWE." I was getting anxious now. What if they said no?

My dad sighed. "It's your decision. I think it would be good for you."

"But don't complain about home sickness!" My mum cut in.

I rolled my eyes. "I told you, I'll be home a couple of days each week."

"I'll give you some money to start you off." My dad said with a smile. "That way you'll be backed up in case something happens with your wages."

I threw my arms around them and hugged them. "Thank you so much!! You honestly don't know how happy I am to be doing this."

They just smiled at me. "Promise me you'll be careful." My mum said anxiously.

I kissed her in response. "I'll call you all the time."

I grabbed the phone and quickly dialed Stephanie's number. She was laughing as she answered the phone.

"That didn't take long," I could tell she was grinning.

"I would like to take you up on your offer." I said excitedly.

"Which one?"

"Both of them if they're still being offered." I grinned. "Getting you in shape will help keep me in shape."

She chuckled. "Okay. I'll arrange it so that you're on Peter's flight out to San Francisco and I'll see you on Tuesday to get contracts and details out the way."

"Thank you so much Stephanie." I couldn't help but squeal. "I can't wait!"

She laughed again. "It was my pleasure. I'll see you soon."

"Bye!" I hung up the phone and grabbed my shoes from the back door.

"Peter's?" Dad asked.

I nodded. "I have to go let him know he'll be stuck with me for another six months."

I left them in the kitchen as I quickly ran to my motorbike. As I drove up to his home, I saw Nayssa standing at the window. I waved at her and she waved back before disappearing from view. Next minute she was bouncing down the stairs to come greet me.

"Hey Nayssa." I smiled at her and accepted her hug. "How are you?"

"Fine." She replied, then stared at me. "Peter's not home."

I felt a stab of disappointment. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

Her eyes travelled past me and she grinned. "Here he comes now."

I swung round to see Peter jogging up the driveway.

"Stephanie offered me an internship!" I yelled as I ran up to meet him.

"She just called me." Peter yelled back, we were only a few feet away from each other.

"That means I'm coming with you after all!" I shrieked, jumping into his arms. Without thinking, we both leant in for a kiss. And it wasn't just a friendly peck on the lips either. We both pulled away, staring at each other in surprise as he let me down. He began blushing and moved a few steps away from me. I suddenly heard Nayssa giggling from somewhere behind me.

"Get a room you two." She called out as she made her way back in the house.

I tried to smooth over the awkward moment. "So.. do you think I should dye my hair before or after I meet Vince McMahon?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Yes Stephanie, Marley dyed her hair green. No, I don't mean dark green. I mean the kind of green you use to highlight things with on your notes."

I sat grinning listening to Peter on the flight over to San Francisco explaining to Stephanie my new look.

"It's quite nice actually," Peter said, glancing sideways at me. "She suits it. If you knew her better you would know that it's just completely Marley."

My hair had been bleach blonde when I'd met Stephanie and Paul, but that was only the transition colour. I had been looking for the right colour of green dye for months... so when I finally found it, I pounced. It was a bright bright green, like the little highlighting pens you get. My entire head of hair was green, with a few bleach streaks. I had cut it a lot shorter as well, so that it all curved underneath my neck. All in all I was proud of it, but I was scared in case it made me look weird - being Stephanie's intern and all, I didn't want to attract too many weird looks. Then again, when I thought about the collection of people kicking about the WWE on a daily basis... I felt pretty normal.

My insides hadn't stopped churning since Saturday night when I had agreed to become a WWE employee. The very thought of so much work and responsibility that lay ahead frightened me. I was psyched to be touring with the WWE, not to mention being able to write and work behind the scenes like I had always dreamed of doing. The thought of meeting and getting to know and working alongside all the WWE Superstars and other backstage staff frightened me. All in all I was a bag of nerves and huge jumble of emotions. I didn't know whether to laugh at the sheer good luck I seemed to be getting... or cry at the fact that this was only a six month deal, and when it was over I would be back down to earth with a bump in a place so far away from this amazing business.

Peter was gazing at me in concern. Reaching over, he patted my hand lightly. "Cheer up M. It's not like you'll never see him again."

I frowned for a moment, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Then I remembered. "Oh.. um.. yeah I guess."

Peter smiled encouragingly at me. "Aj just needs some time to settle... I know how angry I was at the thought of being seperated from you for six months."

I smiled slightly and lapsed back into the painful memories of the previous day. I had went to see Aj first thing Monday morning to let him know that I was gonna be on the road practically all week every week for the next six months. To say he was angry would be a huge understatement.

"I'm not angry at you babe," He assured me, after he had smashed a glass over his head (No joke, he actually took things that far). "I'm just angry at the situation. I wanted to make the most of the six months we had left... now I'll barely ever get to see you."

This had upset me. I had tried to assure him that any chance I got to come back, I would make sure I spent that time with him. I tried hard to make him realise that I wasn't breaking up with him just because I had a completely new life that I wanted to lead and that I wanted to forget about him... that I was just letting him know I couldn't really be that good a girlfriend if I was never there. He begged and pleaded with me to stay with him. Apparently he had never felt that way about a girl before... he wanted to spend the next six months with me. He then offered to come on the road with us... but we both knew that would never work. He _then_ tried to accuse me of ending our relationship just because I would now be around a lot of "juiced up studs" who I would "want to fuck day in and day out". Naturally, this made me pissed. And we spent the next hour or so arguing and screaming at each other. I couldn't believe he would think I was so slutty and inconsiderate of his feelings and my own dignity. Eventually, we both aplogised and had some hot make-up sex. We had left things amicable but sad... and now I worried if we'd ever be able to be friends again after this. I had thought breaking things off with Aj would be easy, because I hadn't thought I liked him that much. But now that it was over with, I felt sort of... empty. I had spent two straight months kissing and fucking and talking and crying and laughing with that guy... and just like that it was all over. I missed him. Missed knowing that I had him there waiting for me, being there for me. Despite what I had always tried to tell myself and others... I had really fallen for Aj.

As we walked through the arena trying to find Vince, Steph and Paul, I felt like shit on a stick. This was it... the moment of truth. This was when we both officially became a part of the WWE family. I still had to keep pinching myself every so often to make sure it was real. I had texted my friends and family back home to let them know what was happening and even they had to be convinced heavily by me before they dared believe I was recieving such an opportunity.

"It's just such a randomly amazing thing to happen to someone as normal as you," my friend James had said. "Just a normal girl from Glasgow and now you're part of the wrestling business."

Part of the wrestling business... now, I admit that's a bit much. But still, being Stephanie McMahon's intern and personal trainer is a big deal. It gets you noticed. Just walking towards Steph and Paul's locker-room alone, I must have been stopped about fifteen times by people asking if I was the new girl who now worked for Stephanie. I was too scared to open my mouth, so instead I just smiled, nodded, and kept walking.

"Peter!" Stephanie sprung to her feet, a huge grin on her face, as we entered their locker-room, dragging our bags behind us. "Marley! It's so great to see you both."

Grinning also, I accepted her bear hug and squeezed her tight. She giggled softly into my ear.

"Someone seems nervous." She teased, as Paul got to his feet to hug his nephew.

"You should have seen her on the plane." Peter said with a fake roll of his eyes as he picked Murphy up and held her close. "She could not sit still."

"Let's see the hair." I had kept my hat on so as not to draw even more attention to myself as I walked along the corridors. I would rather wait till I was introduced to people as a whole before walking around with a neon head of hair... I didn't like attracting too much unwanted attention. Especially not the "Who the hell is she?" kind of attention. Hesitantly, I pulled my beanie off.

Stephanie gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. "It looks amazing."

Paul just chuckled. "You would fit in well as a part of DX."

I grinned at him. "Say the word and I'm there man."

Paul winked. "It could be arranged."

"What did you do to your hair?" Aurora blurted, staring at me as though I had sprouted two heads.

"I dyed it." I smiled as Stephanie came closer to inspect it, running her hands through it as though to make sure it wasn't a wig. "Don't you like it?"

"It's so loud." We all turned to stare at the three year-old.

"Loud?" Peter repeated. "How do you even know what that means?"

Aurora shrugged and folded her arms. She looked like such a little adult that I couldn't help but snort. "I heard it before."

"Okaaay." Stephanie and Paul turned to us with raised eyebrows. "We'll take you both along to sign your contracts right now before we do anything. We might have an opening for you on tonight's show Peter... but we're not entirely sure yet."  
All the colour drained from Peter's face. "TV... tonight?"

"Kendrick's been having some problems with his knees," Paul shrugged as we said goodbye for now to the girls and Sonja and made our way towards Vince's office. I attracted a lot of stares as I walked along beside Peter. Some appreciative, some just plain astounded. I couldn't help but smile. "We think you would be a good fit against Kennedy. It wouldn't be any mic work or anything... just a match so that the fans can get a quick look at you."

"We would get Jim and Tazz to sort of mark for you." Stephanie explained, holding open a door that led to a rather important looking room. I slid into one of the plush chairs and stared around me. This was definitely the creative meeting room. "So that it catches peoples attention. If the match is good and you and Kennedy have good chemistry then we'll give you a promo to do next week on TV."

Peter sat down on his chair with a thud. "I thought I would be going to developmental or something."

Paul smiled supportively. "I know this is going fast... but I know you're ready for this. You just have to think positive. Being nervous won't do you any good."

"And besides," they all turned to look at me. "You're better getting thrown into it quickly like this to see if you can carry the pressure. You know you can do this... and they could easily just make you out to be a jobber if it doesn't go well... they could always put you in developmental until you get better and then bring you back. The fans won't remember a nobody who fucked up on their first fight." Peter's eyes were still clouded with uncertainty. "Trust me, you know there's no way that will happen. You and I both know you have the ability and the mindset to pull this off. It's just up to you to prove to everyone out there that you deserve a spot on this show."

"Couldn't have put it better myself!" The voice was so loud and booming that I think I jumped about three feet in the air. Why did he always have to surprise me like this?

"Hey Vince." Paul smiled, getting to his feet. "You remember Peter right?"

Peter and Vince shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, before Paul turned to me.

"And this is Peter's best friend... and soon to be Stephanie's intern... Marley."

Vince studied my face for a moment. "You seem to have quite the knowledge about this business Marley... I must say I'm impressed."

My cheeks flushed. "Thank you sir... I can only learn more by interning with Stephanie."

He nodded and stuck out his hand. I hesitated at first. I mean, this was Vince fucking McMahon. I wanted someone to pull out a camera or something and take a picture as proof that this was really happening... the last time something amazing had happened to me it had turned out to be a dream. Peter nodded encouragingly at me and smiled, I could tell he was gonna tease me something awful for this later. Gingerly, I shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Marley." He seemed like such a nice person, but I couldn't help but feel terrified.

"You too Mr McMahon." I nodded and sat back down in my seat. Stephanie took this as an initative to start the meeting. A few other people sat down at the table with us. Including Dusty Rhodes, Ann Russo Gordon and Jim Ross. My head was reeling even more as I gazed round at all these WWE legends.

"Now Marley, we'll do you first seeing as you have the easiest contract to sort out." I could tell the smile she flashed me was a "calm down" smile, but I couldn't help myself. Things were happening so fast and becoming so overwhelming, I could feel a panic attack coming on and I wanted out of this room as quick as possible. "We printed out a contract for you so if you want to read over it and then sign it, you can go back to the locker-room." I sighed with relief and shot her a grateful glance... the atmosphere was so electric in this room I felt like I was on fire. I pulled the contract towards me and began reading it as Paul and Jim Ross both sat on either side of me.

I had to look at the salary three times before I took it in.

"A hundred grand." I spluttered, gazing from Paul to Jim to Steph to Vince. "You want to give me a hundred thousand dollars just for being your intern?"

"And my trainer." Stephanie pointed out.

I just gazed at her with my mouth open. She decided to elaborate.

"Gemma, being my intern means practically keeping my schedule, doing what I do - to a lesser extent of course." She added assuringly. "You'll be sitting in on creative meetings, coming with me to Stamford two days each week. You'll be helping manage the sound boards, as well as . Every live show and Pay-Per-View you'll be sitting in the Gorilla with me, hooked up to the moniters. You'll be there to help if things go wrong or if we're short handed... not to mention personal errands I might need done." She smirked at me and I couldn't help but smirk in return. "Then of course you'll be helping me get in shape. And well, I'll leave you to arrange that... but all in all, you'll practically be a member of the creative team. What I'm asking you to do is a huge amount-"

"Especially for a seventeen year-old." Jim Ross cut in.

Stephanie nodded, her gaze never leaving my face. "I can see that you don't fully understand what exactly this internship entails... I don't want you to sign this if you can't keep up with the workload. I wouldn't want to put that pressure or stress on you... especially if you're gonna be leaving in six months time."

"I'll be able to keep up." I couldn't help but feel a tad offended... did they all think I was a bum? "I'm not saying that I don't appreciate what you want me to do. I just... I mean, a hundred thousand pounds is a lot of money for someone who's gonna be leaving in less than a year."

"Well, technically you'll make fifty grand." Paul attempted a joke, but I wasn't smiling. I was getting more and more defensive... if they were worried I couldn't keep up with the work and wasn't taking it seriously, then why offer it to me in the first place.

"I didn't agree to this for the money Miss McMahon." I saw Peter go sort of rigid in his seat. And I think from the look shared by Paul and Vince that they all sensed a change in my mood. "And I'm not taking this just for the sake of being in this business. I want to learn from you and from working here, and I would like to gain experience. I know that I'm young... but I know how to take things serious when I need to. I know what this job entails and I'm not taking it lightly."

"M," Peter hissed. "Calm down, she wasn't-"

"No Peter it's okay." Stephanie's eyes were flashing. But I was surprised to see they were flashing with excitement rather than anger. "I'm glad to see that you do take this seriously. I didn't ever think otherwise. But it's good to see how passionate you are about this whole thing. What I _really_ meant, was that I don't want you agreeing to this just because you feel you have to. I want you to understand how hard the next six months will be for you... I don't want to put you in any danger."

"Have your parents agreed to this?" Vince asked. I knew he didn't even know my second name. Hell, I doubted Paul and Stephanie even knew my second name.

I nodded slowly. "I got their written consent as well, cuz Paul said I would need it." Glancing to him, he nodded slightly. "But I turn 18 in four months, so you really don't need to worry about child labour laws or anything like that."

They all chuckled at that... but I hadn't even been making a joke! I felt slightly more at ease, and was beginning to feel stupid at my outburst earlier. "It says here that I might have an option in six months time to become part of creative long-term?"

Stephanie fidgeted a little. "Well, that's just in case you decide you want to stay in America. It's not hard to fall in love with working here... it's just to be on the safe side in case you want to take care of your long-term future."

I absorbed this while I read over the rest of the contract. "I think everything's okay." I said eventually. "And about the health problems thing," they all glanced at me sharply. I knew this was the moment of truth. "I have blood clotting problems in my arm... it sometimes becomes a problem during long flights."

Stephanie's head cocked to the side. "Define problem."

"My arm swells with fluid," I shrugged. "Sometimes the circulation gets cut off. Nothing too serious if it's treated right away... but if I get it during the flight and there's still another twelve hours to go... I could lose my arm."

"We'll just need to make sure you don't have any insanely long flights then," Vince said airily. "And if you do, we'll make sure a doctors present."

I nodded and was about to put pen to paper when my hand inexplicably hovered over the contract.

"I know this is a big step and a lot to take in," Stephanie said gently, leaning over the desk to speak softly to me. "But this contract only binds you for six months. You don't owe us anything nor will you owe us anything in six months time. This isn't about your long term future until you make it about your long-term future. I just know this will aid you in the long run. Once the six months are up, you're free to do what you please."

That was all I needed. I put my John Handcock down there and after muttering a quick goodbye I was outta there faster than you could say goodbye. I practically sprinted down the hallway, only stopping to dodge around John Cena, who tried to dodge me at the same time, causing us both to run head first into each other, and his coffee to spill all over each of us.

"Oh my God!" We both cried in unison. "I'm so sorry."

Chuckling, he bent down and picked up his now empty coffee cup. "That's alright, it wasn't too hot."

I smiled at him and held out my hand. Despite almost fainting everytime I met a WWE Superstar before now, I felt surprisingly calm in John Cena's prescence. "I'm Marley."

"Marley.." He took my hand and shook it.

"McCallan." I smiled again, I couldn't believe I was standing conversing with John Cena. "Marley McCallan."

His face lit up. "Stephanie's new intern?" When I nodded, he grinned. "Well it's nice to meet you Marley, I'm John Cena."

"I'm sorry about your coffee." I said, glancing regretfully at the coffee stains which now covered us. "If you want I can go get you another cup."

"Oh no don't bother," he laughed, patting his wet t-shirt gently. "It's alright, I was nearly finished anyway. I'm sorry about your clothes." He added, gazing at my once white tank top. I didn't really mind, I had about a hundred other tanks in my case. "Where were you rushing off to anyway?"

"Back to Stephanie's locker-room," He motioned to me to start walking, and so we did. I noticed that he was walking me back to Stephanie's room, how sweet. "I just signed my contract and it all got a bit overwhelming, I needed to just go back and think about everything."

He made a sympathetic noise with his throat. "I can understand that. Here one minute as a fan and an employee a week later... it would be hard for anyone to handle."

"I feel stupid though," I stopped just outside of Paul and Stephanie's locker and leant against the wall. "When I think about how Peter must be feeling... I feel kinda guilty. He's getting put on _television_ tonight... I'm just here to follow Stephanie about. I'm getting a dream job, he's getting his dream. He must be so nervous right now, but all he's done all morning is just try and keep me calm."

His head was tilted to one side as he listened to me speak. I realised how stupid I had just been. I barely even knew this guy and he probably had a million other things to be doing right now, and here I was talking a lot of miserable shit to him, wasting his time. As though sensing my thoughts, he was quick to pacify me.

"You know, it's good to talk about how you feel." He said, patting my arm lightly. "Peter might be the one wrestling and performing, but you have a whole lot more responsibility involved in this job. I can understand how you feel, and I can understand if it all feels a little too much right now.... If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you okay?"

I nodded and held out my hand again. "Thank you John, I'll be sure to hold you to that."

His smile was so cute. If only my friends could see me now, I thought with glee. "I mean what I say Marley. If you ever need me, you know where to find me."

I nodded and bid good day to him, closing the door softly behind me as I entered the locker-room. Sonja was sitting watching TV with Murphy while Aurora played with her Barbies. Upon catching my eye, Sonja looked at me expectantly.

"I signed the contract." I smiled, sitting down next to her and accepting Murphy's little hand. "Peter's finishing up right now."

"And how do you feel?" The thought of signing the contract and signing the next six months of my life away all came swimming back to me as I tried to put a name on what I was feeling.

"I feel honoured." I said eventually. "Stephanie has no proof that I can handle this job. She's taking a huge risk employing me and I feel honoured for that. I mean, I love this business, I love these people... being able to work here is a dream come true for me. I just..."

"You just..." Sonja prodded.

"It's just a lot to take in right now." I held my swimming head in my hands. I could feel a compacted pressure on my chest. _Why the fuck do you go and have a panic attack now of all times?_ "I mean, last week I was here as a fan... now I'm here as an employee." I was startled at the fact I had just reiterated John Cena's words. He seemed like such a nice person. So easy to talk to. I could see myself becoming fast friends with him. "I kind of went crazy just now," I winced at the thought. "And now I feel like a complete idiot."

"It's a big thing to take in," Sonja said, patting my arm affectionately. "Especially for someone so young as you. Things are happening fast and you can't keep your emotions bottled up. I can see this is a big struggle for you to try and digest, but just take it one day at a time and you'll fall into routine in no time. You just need to relax and focus on what Stephanie wants you to do today, so that you can prove you're worth this job."

I tried to relax. I really did. But my breathing wasn't slowing down at all and I knew if I didn't get out of this small room then I would pass out. I mumbled something about wanting coffee to Sonja, before I high-tailed it out of there. I walked quickly through the ever-increasingly busy corridors, ignoring people's questioning stares and instead keeping my eyes glued to the floor. I was almost at the exit, before I once more felt myself bounce off something rock solid and go crashing to the floor.

"We really have to stop meeting like this." Came a voice.

I couldn't help but grin as I stared up into John Cena's face. "This time was definitely my fault... I wasn't watching where I was going."

Helping me up, he guided me towards the exit. "You look rough, do you need some air?"

I nodded gratefully as he swung the door open and led me out into the cool breeze in the parking lot. "Thanks. I just don't handle things like this very well."

He smiled. "You look like you're having an anxiety attack."

I stared at him in curiosity. How did he know? "I kinda just did... I think I still am actually."

"My brother gets them all the time." He explained, leading me over to the wall so that I could lean against it. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to make my head stop spinning. "And when he's in full panic mode, his eyes go all wide like yours are and his breathing is thick and raspy."

I sighed. "I'm such a loser aren't I?"

He frowned. "No. You're a teenager who has just been given the chance of a lifetime and is finding it a struggle to comprehend right now." He squeezed my hand gently. "It's understandable."

I glanced at him. "And how do you know I'm a teenager?"

He shrugged. "Through the grapevine."

I couldn't help but smirk and sigh theatrically. "And there goes my chances of seducing you to bed."

He laughed at that. "Well, you're not illegal for long right?"

I wiggled my eyebrows playfully at him. "I'm British. I've been legal for years."

I felt better then. It was like having a laugh and a joke and just being normal - even though it was with John Cena - was the thing I needed to calm me down. My breathing returned to normal and my head stopped spinning, I no longer saw spots in my eyes.

"Feeling better?" He asked, placing his hand on my lower back.

I smiled and nodded. "Thank you John." I hugged him tightly, glad to see he hugged me back. "You really didn't have to do this."

He shrugged again. "Hey, what are friends for right?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh so we're friends huh?"

He frowned. "You're right, I can't be seen with someone with green hair... let's keep this between us."

I squealed and hit him playfully on the arm. "At least I _have_ hair and I'm not cutting it short to try and hide the fact I'm going bald."

His mouth opened in outrage as we made our way back into the arena. "Excuse me but I am _not_ going bald. Have a feel." He grabbed my hand and ran it over his buzzcut. "Who do you think I am? Dave Batista?"

"You burying me again Cena? Come on we know you can't have _all_ the women."

Laughing, we both turned round to see The Animal Batista himself walking up to us, his face scrunched up in a friendly frown.

"Trust me," I said, sticking out my hand. "This is one woman who won't fall for his tricks."

Grinning, he accepted my handshake. "The name's Dave, you must be Marley."

I nodded, wondering how it had gotten round so quickly that I was now working with Stephanie. "Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine." Dave bent down to kiss the back of my hand. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Hands off David." John said, putting his arm around my shoulders and drawing me close. "She's my friend now, not yours."

Dave pouted playfully. "Can't we all share?"

"What am I? A piece of meat?" I asked in mock outrage. I couldn't believe how easy it was to just talk to them. Gone was my star-struckness and shy manner. John Cena and Dave Batista I had decided were my two newest friends.

"Of course not." John said quickly. "But what you are is a newbie. And Dave and I take it upon ourselves to look after newbies."

"Yeah," Dave caught on. "We make sure no-one gives them any hassle. And if anyone does, they just need to come tell one of us and we'll sort it."

Chuckling, I removed myself from John's clutches. "As good as that sounds boys, I'm gonna be on Smackdown and you're gonna be on RAW... so really we won't get to see much of each other." I glanced at my watch. "I really need to get back. I left there without a word and if Peter's back he'll be wondering where I am."

"I'll take you back if you want?" John offered, as Dave shook my hand again and bade his goodbyes.

I shook my head and hugged him again. Hey, no harm in trying to cement the friendship right? "No thanks John, I can find my way back. But thanks again for what you did."

He smiled at me. "I did nothing. Just remember you'll always be welcome if you ever need to talk to me okay?"

I nodded, blew him a kiss and made my way back to the locker-room.

Suddenly, becoming a WWE employee didn't seem so bad.

"There you are, we were beginning to get worried."

I felt slightly guilty at the sight of Paul, Peter and Stephanie all jumping to their feet the moment I entered the room.

"Sorry," I said quickly, accepting Peter's hug. "I just needed some air, and I ended up bumping into John-"

"Cena?" Stephanie asked.

I nodded. "And Dave-"

"Batista?" Paul finished.

I nodded again and smiled. "We talked for a while." I turned back to Stephanie. "Sorry I got all weird earlier-" But she cut me off with a shake of her head.

"I completely understand. You looked terrified back there, I know how big a deal this is and I wish there was some way I could have caused you less stress with this." She hugged me and I hugged her back tightly. "You look a lot better now though, what did Cena and Dave put you through?"

I grinned and winked at them. "You don't wanna know."

She laughed. "Okay, well, while Paul and Peter get ready for their matches, do you wanna come around with me and see what your job entails?"

I nodded and took a deep breath. _You can do this_. "That sounds great, let's go."

As Stephanie led me out the room, I glanced back to see Peter staring at me. Nodding and smiling at me affectionately, he mouthed the words 'You go girl' at me. And as I left the locker-room, I suddenly felt anything was possible.


	7. Chapter 7

"No fucking way can I do that on a daily basis."

Peter just sat watching me pace back and forward in front of him. I'd been following Steph around for almost three hours and despite only doing minor things - like extracting files from her office, sending e-mails and getting her coffee - I was exhausted. Steph just did not slow down. If she wasn't in the creative meetings with the writers trying to finalise the scripts for Smackdown's shows, she was in the Gorilla pit, finalising video packages and making sure everything was set for the recording of the show. She was rushing around trying to meet with all the talent to discuss promos, as well as checking all the sound boards, match-card and wardrobe every couple of seconds. Throughout all this, she still managed to jump back to the locker-room to check on her children and husband every thirty minutes. I had been introduced to the entire creative team during the meeting, but I had just sat and observed. It was pretty cool to watch them throw back and forth ideas and change the scripts so drastically despite only being a few hours away from showtime. I had been given a fifteen minute break while Stephanie and Paul went down to the ring for Paul to prep for his match, and due to the three cups of coffee I had drunk in the last fifteen minutes, I was too wired to even try to have a break.

"You look like you've had fun." And while this was true, it was also exhausting. I honestly couldn't figure out how in the hell Stephanie does this.

"Peter, look at me." I grabbed his face and made me look into his eyes. "I'm wired up on coffee. _Coffee_. I never drink cofee. Surely that shows you how stressed out I am. I've been following your aunt around for three hours and it's already been hectic. The show starts in one more hour and it's gonna get even more hectic." I stared off into space. "I don't know how she does it Peter. I've done barely an eighth of what she usually does and she's still on top of everything and as bright and chipper as anything."

"You'll get used to it." Peter shrugged.

I glared at him in response as I grabbed my clipboard and made for the door. "And I hope you get used to performing on national television." When I saw his face pale, I grinned and skipped back over to him. I pecked him on the cheek and wished him luck, before leaving to try and find my new boss again.

"Marley, over here."

I made my way over to where Stephanie and Paul were talking with Jim Ross.

"Marley this is Jim, Jim Ross this is Marley McCallan."

Jim and I shook hands and I returned his smile. "It's really nice to meet you Sir."

"It's great to meet you too kid." He nodded. "Great to have a true fan on the pay-roll again."

I laughed. "I'm sure some people would disagree with you."

"Amen to that." Paul growled, glancing at his watch. "I better go try motivate Peter some more."

"Mibbe you should plug his ass." I suggested, as Paul kissed his wife and turned back to me. "Cuz he is most definitely shitting it."

They all laughed and Paul waved before he and Jim went on their way, leaving Steph and I behind.

"Okay," Steph said, rubbing her hands together eagerly. "We need to go finalise the scripts one last time. We'll check in on Aurora and Murphy before we go down to the pit for the show okay?"

I nodded and handed her the scripts in question she had requested I collect. "Sounds good to me."

She smiled at me and pulled me forward for a hug. "You're doing great." She whispered. "Just lay off the coffee, I want you to be able to sleep tonight."

I grinned at her. "Sorry ma'am."

She groaned as we made our way back to the boardroom. "Call me that again and I'll kick your ass."

After the short meeting, in which the scripts were finally drawn up and I was requested to drop them off to a few of the talent - Mr Kennedy, Jeff Hardy (who I had had a pretty sweet conversation about tattoos with) and Edge to name but a few - while Stephanie went to spend ten minutes with her children. I slowly made my way back to the Gorilla pit, after stopping by the front desk to get two contracts Stephanie had asked me to get. I topped up on fresh coffee and was relieved to see I had beaten Stephanie here. I spent a few moments just staring at all the screens in front of me, watching the production staff at work. Kevin Dunn introduced himself to me before introducing me to everyone else, and said that if I needed to know anything, all I had to do was ask. So I spent a few moments grilling Kevin about how everything worked in the pit, and by the time Stephanie eventually arrived, I had acquired a newfound knowledge about how WWE Shows are put together.

"Oh thank you." Stephanie said gratefully, taking the coffee and contracts from my hands and sitting down with her headset on. She motioned to the seat behind her, and I sat. Kevin offered me a pair of headphones which I eagerly took.

"And we're on in five.. four.. three.. two.. one." The fireworks were so loud I literally squealed out in fear. They all grinned at me in amusement before turning their attention back to the screen as Smackdown began to record.

I hadn't imagined I'd be needed to do much other than refresh everyone's coffee every hour. We were almost near the end of the show, during Peter's match with Mr Kennedy. Peter had done great so far, there wasn't a trace of those nerves he had been displaying earlier. I felt so proud of him, I was gripping Stephanie's knee so tight - we got a few funny looks from Paul due to this, but her hands were full and I needed to hold onto _something_ - that she kept wincing every few seconds. It was all going great, I couldn't believe how well his debut went.

But then suddenly, things went badly wrong.

As Kennedy got up on the top turnbuckle, Brian Kendrick did his scheduled run-in and bumped Kennedy off of the turnbuckle. Kennedy landed on his head awkwardly and from his awkward position on the floor it was obvious he had been knocked out. It seemed as though everyone in the ring just froze and turned to stare at the lifeless form of Kennedy. The ref jumped to the outside to check on Kennedy and made the X sign, signalling that he was badly hurt. No-one seemed to know what to do. Least of all Peter and Brian, who were now just staring at each other in the ring. Forgetting who I was and where I was, all I wanted to do was make the show right... I forgot that it was a pre-tape and that things could be edited, I just wanted to help put this match back on track.

"Don't let the commentators go silent." I ordered out to no-one in particular. Almost instantly, JR and Tazz began talking again. "Mike, have Peter attack Kendrick and leave the ring." I ordered into the headset to the referee, Mike Chioda. I watched as the ref attempted to seperate Peter and Brian, all the while whispering what I had told him to do into Peter's ears. The moment the ref turned back to Kennedy, Peter also made as though he was about to check on Kennedy, before he turned and flattened Brian with a clothesline. The cheers were defeaning and the crowd went wild as Peter set Kendrick up for his shooting star splash. Peter slowly left the ring to his entrance music as medical staff rushed to aid Kennedy. The crowd were on their feet, chanting "Peter Kaay! Peter Kaay! Peter Kaay!" and screaming and cheering for him as he left Kendrick lying in a heap in the middle of the ring.

"And we'll be right back." Came JR's voice, as the feed now stopped for a commercial break.

As Stephanie got to her feet to meet Peter, I noticed that almost everyone in the pit was sitting staring at me in disbelief. As I registered what I had just done - I had basically just taken over the match and determined the outcome myself - my face began turning a bright shade of red.

"MCALLAN!" Came Vince's roar. I instantly jumped to my feet, almost choking myself in the process as I untangled myself from the headset wires.

"Dad, Kennedy's knocked out." Stephanie was trying to ward her father off me as he advanced on me. I didn't know he had been in the pit with us, but apparently he had. Ignoring his daughter, he instead walked right up to me. He stared long and hard at me, breathing heavily. I tried to give him a defiant glare, but it came out more of a terrified deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression. Eventually...

"Did anyone ever tell you you're good at thinking on your feet?" He asked.

I shook my head numbly. "Um... no I don't think so."

He slapped me hard on the back. "Well it's true. Good work kiddo. You might have just helped Peter become an instant star."

Suddenly many more hands were raining down on my back as Vince began raving on about Peter being turned into instant babyface due to attacking such a hated heel as Kendrick ("Why didn't we do that in the first place dammit?"). Congratulations were spouting themselves at me as everyone complimented me on my actions. I felt kind of embarrassed by all the fuss... I had been so engrossed in the entire show that I had sort of forgotten people could hear me and that I was actually in the WWE talking to a referee during the match. I had been watching it as a fan and just reacted in a way a fan would want to react. I tried explaining this to Stephanie, but she waved my explanations away.

"We don't have time for that." She whispered, as we took our seats again. "We have another thirty minutes left before the end of the show."

When the show was eventually over - and there had thankfully been no more mishaps - Stephanie I both went to pay a visit to Kennedy to see if he was alright. He was awake and talking, but it was obvious he had a pretty nasty concussion.

"Is this the girl I heard saved my match for me?" He asked groggily. I walked forward and patted him on the back.

"Trust me, it was nothing." I wished him well and bade my goodbyes before Stephanie and I headed back to the locker-room. Neither of us had had a chance to see either Paul or Peter and talk to them properly since before the show even started. They both sprung to their feet the moment we entered. Stephanie rushed into her husbands embrace while I grinned and accepted Peter's warm hug.

"You did amazing babe." I said to him, high-fiving him as I made my way over to my bag. "Did you hear them cheering for you?"

"Only because of what you told me to do." I rolled my eyes.

"They wouldn't have cheered you if you didn't appeal to them. They would have probably cheered you whether you did what I said or not."

Peter snorted. "Stop being so modest. You heard Vince, you've just made me an instant star."

"But there's still a lot of work you have to do." I teased him, zipping up my bags. Steph, the girls and I were heading to Stamford for two days for some meetings and to scout some new talent while Paul and Peter took part in a few house shows. Peter was wanting all the experience he could get, and so he wanted to wrestle as much as he could before his big promo next Tuesday. I was excited to be going to my first proper creative meeting, but I was now nervous as well. When people found out what had happened today, I hoped to God they wouldn't put too much pressure on me to think up storylines or any of that shit. What had happened earlier had been a spur of the moment thing. It wasn't as though I was a storyline fountain who knew all the right things to do. I also knew that I was reading to much into it and that I just had to try and relax and drink as much water as I could otherwise I'd be up all night.

"I know that." He slipped his hand into mine as we made our way out of the building. Steph and I were taking the jet to Conneticuit while Paul and Peter were travelling together to the next town. I was going home on Friday before joining back up with them on Sunday morning - providing Stephanie didn't need me for anything. We bade our goodbyes to them before we boarded the jet. Aurora and Murphy were completely knocked out and I was close to being the same... Stephanie however, spent the entire flight on her laptop working. I tried to help her but she insisted I should get some rest. I finally managed to fall asleep for a little while. And by the time we reached her house in Conneticuit, I was only able enough to make it up to the guest bedroom, remove my make-up and clothes before passing out on the bed and having probably one of the deepest sleeps I have ever had in my entire life.

When I woke up the next morning, I was refreshed, raring to go and ready for the tiring day ahead of me. I helped Stephanie get the girls ready before we headed up to the offices in Stamford. I offered to watch the girls for Stephanie whenever she didn't have me working, and she agreed that after we were done in here for the day we would drop the girls off with Stephanie's mom before we would hit the gym for our first work-out session.

Walking up to the front of TitanTowers, I felt that overwhelming sensation again in the pit of my stomach. Shoving it aside, I helped Stephanie get the girls up to the floor her office was on without them causing any mischief.

"I'll be back soon okay." I told Stephanie. I was away to get her coffee and something to eat as well as a magazine or two for the girls. She waved me away as she sat down at her desk and pulled her laptop closer to her. Aurora and Murphy both clamoured to come with, and I decided to take them. As I pulled Murphy up into my arms, we got into the elevator and headed down to the cafeteria with Aurora trotting beside me.

"Aurora? Is that you?"

Turning round, Aurora and Murphy both shrieked with glee and squirmed away from me to run towards their grandmother. Linda McMahon hugged both her granddaughters close, before turning to me with a warm smile.

"You must be Marley," Linda said with her hand outstretched. I shook her hand and returned her warm smile. "Stephanie's told me all about you."

"It's great to finally meet you Mrs McMahon." I said, fighting the urge to curtsey. This was _Linda fucking McMahon_. CEO of WWE, mother to my idol Stephanie McMahon... I mean wow. "We were just heading down for something to eat before we get down to work."

Linda nodded in approval and kissed her granddaughters goodbye. "Well, seeing as my daughter is baby free right now I'll go pay her a little visit. It was nice meeting you Marley. Bye girls."

"Bye." We all chorused.

After the girls had eaten, and selected a comic each, we made our way back to Stephanie's office. Everyone I met said hello to me and struck up conversation with the girls. So by the time we made it back to Stephanie's office, I had to throw the now-cold coffee in the trash and run back down to get some more. Sonja appeared just as Steph and I were ready to go to the meeting. She was taking the girls back home for a couple of hours before Linda stopped by to pick them up for babysitting duty.

"You girls be good for mommy and Sonja okay." Stephanie kissed both her daughters goodbye before leaving the office, me trailing behind her. As we entered a huge scary boardroom that had about thirty people seated inside - all of whom turned to stare at us as we walked in, and didn't stop staring at me (or rather, my hair) until Vince took their attention again - I couldn't help but feel absolutely petrified about what was about to take place in front of me.

"First of all, everyone, meet Stephanie's new intern.... Marley McCallan."

As everyone nodded to me and some even waved, I felt a wave of nausea overcome me... and I spent the majority of the meeting trying hard not to throw up all over Vince's expensive corporate desk.


	8. Chapter 8

"Okay, now what do we do?"

"We'll go on the punchbag for a few minutes until you feel rested enough to get back to running."

"Okay, but this time can we run around the house or something? It's getting cold outside."

I chuckled as I led Stephanie down to her and Paul's basement, which had been converted into a gym. We had arrived home at about seven, Linda following behind not long after. Linda had decided to watch the girls in Stephanie's house while we worked out and have dinner ready by the time we were done. After a quick warm up which included push-ups, sit-ups and lots of stretching, I had taken Stephanie for a thirty minute run around her neighbourhood. Now that we were back, I took Stephanie over to the punchbag and we spent a few moments beating the crap out of that before she collapsed onto a nearby bench with a loud sigh.

"I'm tired Marley."

Rolling my eyes, I dragged her up to her feet and attempted to pull her zipper off. "Fine, no more running tonight. But that's only because this is your first time... don't think I'll go so easily on you any other time."

She groaned as I began dragging her outside to their swimming pool. "Maaarleeyyyy!" She whined. "Please let's just call it a night."

I shook my head and pointed to the water. "Get in." When she didn't move, I picked her up and threw her in.

"I'm not in my bathing suit yet!" She shrieked as she splashed about.

I laughed, removed my shoes and my clothes until I was down to my bikini before jumping in after her. "Not only is this good for fitness, it'll help soothe your muscles as well. Now, a fifteen minute swim and we can go in and eat dinner."

So for another fifteen minutes, she swam, grumbling the whole way with me beside her. Despite what I'd heard, my first proper creative meeting had been pretty interesting. I hadn't found myself bored at all, even though it had went on for near two hours. They had discussed possible long-term storylines as well as what would happen at the next PPV and Raw and Smackdown tapings. I noticed a huge change in Stephanie when she turned into a business woman. Gone was the woman who would smile and hug and reassure me about everything, and in its place was a hard-ass business woman who took shit from no-one and did everything she could to do her job right.

It made me admire her even more.

Once the meeting was over, Stephanie took some time out to show me the files of everyone on the roster. She gave me copies of all the files on her computer and in her filing cabinet, so that I could research up and be just as knowledgable about the business as she was. She wanted me up-to-date as soon as possible, so that she could set me administration tasks to do without having to explain what it was she wanted from me. I had pored over the documents she gave me while she finished her work on her laptop and had a few more meetings with her father and the other writers, all the while recieving Stephanie's phone calls, making appointments for her, arranging lunch dates and making sure she had an endless supply of coffee at her disposal. For my first day at the office, I felt it had gone pretty well.

After dinner, I bade goodnight to both Stephanie and Linda before making my way back down to the gym to do some more rounds on the punchbag and weight machines. Paul had called while Stephanie had been in a meeting and after some probing from me, he had allowed me permission to use his gym as I pleased. I had spoken to Peter for a few moments as well. His first show as a WWE Superstar couldn't have gone better, and now he was just working on his mic skills and trying to think of the best way to work his first promo. Another hour later and it was now 10pm. I finished up in the gym and made my way up to my new bedroom. I made a mental note to buy an apartment in Conneticuit the first chance I got... I couldn't scrounge off Steph and Paul for the next six months.

After a nice hot shower, I lay across my bed and once I had called my mum to let her know how my first couple of days had went, I sat poring over the documents well into the night. I stored as much as I could into my brain, which was a lot, and decided I would just keep stocking up on information until I knew everything there was to know about the company and how Stephanie's job worked.

The next morning I hauled Steph out of bed at 6am and took her for an early morning jog. I was pleased to see that I wasn't the only non-morning person and once we returned we got the girls ready before heading back to TitanTowers for another day at the office. Thursday was a lot more hectic than Wednesday had been. There was a lot of people who wanted and needed to see and speak with Stephanie. I spent the majority of the morning arranging appointments and dinner dates and God knows what else with talent, managers, advertisers and share-holders. So much so that by midday I felt like I was a master at using the phone and Stephanie's planner... which was so full it made my head spin. By two pm, I found myself in another meeting, helping to take notes for Stephanie while she conducted another storyline lecture. It occured to me during a US Title dispute, that here wasn't that many credible contenders on the Smackdown brand. Deciding to fuck all self-conciousness and just go with it, I spoke up.

"What about the new guy on Smackdown." I chirped up, causing everyone's heads to snap round to stare at me. "Peter Kaay?"

"He just had his first match on Tuesday." Someone pointed out.

"I know," I said, fidgeting slightly. I didn't like being under all their stares, especially the icy, challenging stare of Vince McMahon. "But he's good in the ring, and you saw how the fans reacted to him on Tuesday. There aren't that many credible contendors for that title right now due to injuries - and now with Kennedy's cracked skull there's even less talent on that show right now than ever. Injuries are piling up... Peter could be a good option."

"But we don't usually give someone so new such a great push." Someone else pointed out. I knew they would assume I was just marking for my best friend, but I wasn't. I felt this would be a good business move.

"But by giving him a push right away it'll prove to the crowd that he's valuable, and that he's good. You don't want to shove him down their throats but you don't want to misuse him either." I could see Stephanie smirking at me from the corner of my eye, but I refused to look round at her. "Adding him into the US title picture in place of Kennedy gives Kendrick an opponent without him losing any steam. They'll see Kaay beat up Kendrick on Friday and then just assume the two are going into a fued."

"We haven't seen Kaay do a promo yet." They all seemed destined to find a hole in my suggestion. I knew I was being severely tested. "What if his mic skills suck?"

"I'm not saying you put the title on him this Tuesday," I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "All I'm saying is that he could be pushed as a credible contender for the title. And if all goes well, a title run. You've seem MVP, Hardy and Benjamin fight for that title for almost a year." I felt myself becoming more confident as I stared each of them in the eyes. "MVP and Hardy have moved on to the main title. You need someone new coming in and other than Kaay, no-one else around Smackdown right now uninjured could be viewed as serious opposition to Kendrick."

"I agree." Vince said suddenly. "I'm sure many of you have seen Kaay at work in some promotion or other, and no-one can deny he has talent." Turning to his daughter, who in turn glanced at me to make sure I was taking notes, he said. "Give him a short promo to do next Smackdown taping. We'll see how the crowd reacts to him. If all goes well, we'll have him fight in a tag match and two other singles matches before giving him the US title at Survivor Series." He glanced around everyone at the table, his eyes rested on me a moment and he smirked. "Unless anyone has a problem with that."

There was a few low murmers of approval, but I could tell no-one believed Peter was ready or worthy of such a huge push. I couldn't help but frown.

"I'm sorry," A man a few seats along from me stood up. "But if there aren't that many stars who can fight for the US Championship, shouldn't we concentrate on making some of those younger stars become viable contenders? Ones who have been here longer and are more comfortable in front of the camera?"

"It isn't always about who's been here the longest." I pointed out. "Or do I even have to remind you of a certain Kurt Angle... who had won every major title within 12 months of joining this company."

They all just stared at me in disblief, astonished that I would bring up a subject that was clearly a huge no-no subject to bring up. I shot Vince an apologetic glance before I got to my feet also, staring at this man, who was named Eric, with my eyebrows raised.

"And need I remind _you_ who exactly Kaay is to you." His eyes were glinting dangerously.

I snorted. "If you're referring to the fact that he's my best friend then no, I don't think I need reminded of that. But I'm not talking about hiring my best friend, I'm talking about hiring Peter Kaay, a dynamic new talent who can do things on this brand that no-one has done since Edge shot to the title picture. As a fan more than anything else right now, I know who I'd like to see beat Kendrick's ass and finally take that title away from him.... the guy who did just that two days ago on Smackdown."

I knew this was the height of the test. They all wanted to see if I could handle being in such temperamental environment. Apparently I'd passed, because this Eric guy nodded and decided to start writing the promos for them both right away so that Stephanie could proof read them tomorrow.

"That was pretty incredible." Stephanie said to me later that day, as I sat at her laptop e-mailing a few people while she played around with her children. "You completely owned them all with one small speech."

I shrugged. "I knew that was my assessment. I didn't want them to think they can walk all over me."

She laughed. "You reminded me of me when I saw you sitting there, glaring at them as defiantly as you did.... it was sort of how I was when I first joined the creative team."

"Only much harder," I pointed out to her as I began printing off a few documents her and Vince needed to sign. "Because you were here as the bosses daughter and you were here to take over the entire creative team."

She grinned at me. "While you're only here as the bosses daughter's intern, and you're only here to take over when I get stuck."

Handing her the documents, I came and sat down beside her. "You weren't stuck. I just got an idea in my head and I didn't want it to quickly slip away."

She shrugged. "Well whatever you did, you've certainly impressed my father. He wants to hand you a spot on creative right now." Laughing at the astonished look on my face, she got to her feet and began gathering her things. "Why don't we go get some dinner somewhere?"

I shook my head. "Uh-uh, you're coming home to have a work-out with me missy. And this time no skiving off."

She pouted. "Do we have to do it everyday?"

I rolled my eyes as I followed her out of her office and along to the elevator. "I'm rapidly losing muscle and gaining weight going along at the pace you go along at. You said I'm good at motivation and so I'm motivating you - do what I say and what I do and you'll be able to send Paul wild come Christmas time with your smoking hot body."

She giggled as we made our way over to her car. "You think I'll look any different come Christmas time?"

I glanced at her up and down. She wasn't in that bad a shape. She just needed some toning here and there. Her hectic lifestyle and giving birth to two children was only noticeable because she had let it become so.

"Trust me," I said, getting into the driving seat. "Come Christmas time, Paul will need to get his rocks off just looking at you fully clothed."


	9. Chapter 9

"Marley?" Came Stephanie's frantic voice. "I need your help."

"What's wrong?" I felt my stomach drop as I sat up straighter in the backseat of the limo. It was Friday morning and I was making my way home. I hadn't really been excited at the thought of another flight in such a short space of time, and so I had gladly accepted Stephanie's offer to let the limo take me home. I had been relaxing with a glass of wine and a good movie when my cell phone had begun ringing. Hearing the panic in Stephanie's voice instantly made me worried. What had happened?

"It's the new share holders and advertising company." I briefly remembered her telling me about this super rich family who wanted to get a share in as well as advertise for the company. The family were one of the richest in the world, and this would be a big plus for WWE if they managed to snag a contract from them. "They want to get a meeting sorted to meet some people from the WWE this weekend. But I'm fully booked. Can you please call Shane and try and get him to go instead? Mom and Dad can't go and I can't send any talent because they don't have a clue how to work these meetings. I'm on the plane right now ready to fly out to Paul and I-"

"Stephanie calm down." I instructed. "I want you to e-mail me the details and the contracts so that I know what we're dealing with. I'll call Shane and let him know okay? Don't call me until your flight lands and just relax. Everything will be fine."

"Okay thank you." I heard her express a sigh of relief. "I really need to go but e-mail me with updates alright? I'm sending you the relevant information right now."

Instantly, my laptop lit up with a little e-mail bubble. I clicked on it and read through the documents as well as the contracts and e-mail Mr Wong had sent Stephanie. He requested a dinner meeting with Stephanie - or someone high up in the company at least - as well as a tour around WWE Offices and the RAW show. Basically he wanted Stephanie to spend the whole weekend with him and his family, no business dealings, no seeing her family, nothing. I felt a bit angry at that. She had two kids under the age of five... how in the hell could he expect her to just drop her life to entertain him for three days?

I quickly dialed Shane's number and after a few rings he picked up. "Shane McMahon here."

"Shane, it's Marley, Stephanie's assisstant." I quickly explained the situation to him and asked if there was any possible way he could come to Stamford to meet me.

"Oh God Marley I'm sorry, but I can't." He then went on to explain all the commitments he had that he just couldn't get out of.

"I'll call dad, try and get it moved-"

"No," The wheels in my brain were spinning, I knew what I had to do. "I'll take care of it. I'll phone Steph back and sort it out. Sorry to bother you Shane."

Without waiting for him to reply, I hung up and was thankful to see we were almost at my home. As I got out the limo, I asked the driver if he could wait just a little longer while I collected a few things and explained something had come up to my family. My mum and dad, at first were confused as to why I was doing what I had decided to do. But when they saw how rushed I was to gather a few dresses, some shoes and some money, they understood perfectly how important this was to Stephanie and the entire WWE.

"Here." My dad shoved a few hundred dollars in my hands. I rolled my eyes at the sheer extravagance of my father. "Have fun and let me know how you get on."

"Thanks." I kissed him on the cheek, ran up to the bathroom, changed into my black dress - and let me tell you how thankful I was that I had curled my hair properly that morning - retouched my make-up before hopping back into the limo and requesting the driver to take me back to Conneticuit, so that I could meet Mr Wong and his family and take them on a tour of Titan Towers. Pulling out my cell again, I quickly dialed the airline and requested a flight out to Tampa, Florida, which was were the PPV show would be. I managed to get four first class seats, before I e-mailed Wong's associates to let them know that, despite Stephanie not being able to attend and how regretful she was because of it, one of Stephanie's business associates would be happy to entertain him and his family for as long as they wished. I stopped for a moment to think about what I was doing. I was taking a hugely important matter into my own hands with no second thought at all. Somehow, doing this felt right. I knew this would help Stephanie a lot but I also knew that they might think Stephanie sending an inexperienced seventeen year-old out to do business matters was inappropriate.

As we drew up to Conneticuit airport, I checked my watch one last time. We had made it with just a few minutes to spare before the Wong's flew in on a private jet plane. I straightened my dress out, checked my hair and make-up one last time before I plastered a smile onto my face as the Korean billionaire made his way forward, followed by a friendly-looking woman who I assumed to be his wife, and a teenager who looked a little older than me, but by looking at him I could tell he was pretty shy.

"Mr Wong." I smiled and held out my hand. Looking surprised, he bent down and kissed it gently. "It's such a pleasure to meet you. I'm Marley, Stephanie's personal assisstant. She deeply regrets not being able to meet you here, but she will be there to see you on Sunday at the Pay Per View."

He smiled, I was glad to see he wasn't another of those snobby rich people. "My wife," He gestured behind me. "And my nephew Jacob."

I smiled and shook both their hands, before motioning to the limo. "After you."

Once we were all settled into the limo and their luggage had been loaded into the trunk, I turned to my new charges.

"I can only imagine how hard your flight must have been." I decided to drop the whole sucking ass thing and instead I reverted back to my usual, less polite accent. "If it's alright with you we can head back to the hotel, and have dinner there before calling it a night. Tomorrow I promise to take you on a full tour of Titan Towers and whichever extra curricular activities you have in mind before showing you around at the PayPerView on Sunday." There was a few moments of silence as they took all this in, before Mr Wong started chuckling.

"Did you rehearse this before we came Marley?" He grinned and patted me on the back. "That sounds wonderful. We have plenty of things to discuss... like how a girl as young as you could be so responsible with such a high-placed job."

By the time we got to the hotel, it was already six pm. Excusing myself, I ran to my room, jumped in a quick shower before changing my dress and straightening my hair. I sent Stephanie a text saying that everything was okay, not to worry and that I would see her on Sunday night at the PPV. I slipped my phone and my make-up into my purse before quickly going down to reception and booking a table for four. When the Wong's came down, I was already seated at our table poring over the menu. I motioned to the seat next to me, which Jacob gladly took. As Mr and Mrs Wong decided what they wanted to eat, I started up a conversation with Jacob.

"Where are you from?" He asked me, gazing at me through the side of his eyes as he pored over the menu.

"Glasgow, in Scotland." When he gazed at me in confusion, I elaborated. "It's in Great Britain."  
"And how did you get over here?" He asked with a slight smile. I could see Mr and Mrs Wong were gazing at us intently.

I laughed. "My mum and dad decided to live in the US for a year. I've been here for six months, we go back home in April of next year."

"And how did you manage to end up in the WWE?" Mrs Wong asked curiously.

Smiling, I explained my story about meeting Peter, being offered an internship, although I of course left out the whole part of only being an employee for four days.  
"So how old are you?" Jacob asked.

"Seventeen." I grinned at his crestfallen expression.

"There goes your chance boy." Mr Wong said with a cheerful grin. "She's much too young for you.. who would want a nineteen year-old if she looked like the wonderful Miss McCallan looked."

I blushed. This night wasn't turning out as bad as I thought it would. "Oh stop Mr Wong. Two years isn't bad at all." I turned to Jacob and patted his arm affectionately. "You would definitely be a catch Jacob."

He grinned happily. "Will you marry me then?"

I laughed and pretended to think it over for a moment as the waiter came and took my order. "If I wasn't going back to Scotland in six months I would have seriously considered it."

Dinner was a pretty casual affair. We mostly discussed the WWE, what about the company appealed to each of us and I also had to make a speech about why he should invest his money into the product.

"Basically, you have one main group who are against professional wrestling no matter what and that's the media." We were onto dessert and I was having a blast, I kept forgetting this was an important business dinner and that I should be trying hard to make a good impression. Instead I was just being myself and having fun, and I think they noticed that. "And let's be honest, the media always have negative things to say about everything. They bash rock stars for doing drugs and going wild. They bash actors for being paid too much and losing too much weight. They bash professional wrestling because of the whole steroid tag it just can't get away from. But if you think about it - you have twenty thousand people in an arena week after week for 52 weeks in a year. You have a million people buying the PPVs. You've got the movies, the action figures, the merchandise... it's a global market which is raking money in from all walks of life. There are clearly a larger number out there who are passionate about wrestling than who are against it."

"So say I was to endorse this company and become a share holder..." I could tell he was enjoying this business conversation just as much as I was.

"By endorsing the company, you would have your company advertised on television at least four times a week. You would recieve annual advertising bonuses for Pay Per Views and other special WWE events. As for the stock... WWE haven't had a bad economic year in well over a decade and the numbers just keep on rising. Those internet haters we talked about earlier? Well, even when, to quote the dirt sheets, "The writing sucks." WWE are still raking more money in than any other global product all over the world. And that's the key word - _global_. You're company would be advertised on television four times a week worldwide. From America to Korea to Japan to Australia to Scotland. You would recieve worldwide publicity as well as a hefty penny in your back pocket at the end of the day."

He observed me for a moment before he cracked up, banging his fist down on the table.

"I don't know where you got it from but you have some sales pitch girl." He laughed, wiping the tears from his eyes. "You've sold me. After hearing that, I think we can safely say I'll be endorsing the product and signing the contracts tomorrow morning."

I couldn't help but feel elated. "You won't regret it Mr Wong trust me."

He nodded at me and glanced at his watch. "I think my wife and I might head to the bar for some drinks before we turn in. About tomorrow, I don't think seeing TitanTowers is neccessary at this moment in time. I'll leave it till I meet Vince McMahon himself. I'd rather get the contracts out the way tomorrow and just relax before our flight to Florida."

I rose to my feet along with them. "That can be arranged sir. I'll see you both tomorrow."

He nodded and glanced towards his nephew. "You don't happen to know any good clubs anywhere do you Marley? Jacob hasn't had a taste of American nightlife yet and I think you seem like the type of girl who could show him a good time."

I couldn't help but grin at Jacob and wink. "Damn right."

"Excellent. Jacob, behave yourself boy." To me, he lowered his voice. "Thank you for bringing him out of his shell. He hasn't spoken a word since we landed here. I don't regret agreeing to this contract for a minute whenever I see his happy face."

I felt quite touched by this. "I'll make sure he enjoys himself tonight." I said with a smile.

Mr Wong winked at me. "Just not too much okay."

Glancing over at Jacob, who was looking at me slightly wistfully. I couldn't help but snort. "I can't promise anything Sir."

As we said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Wong, Jacob walked me to the front door as I pulled out my cell. I dialed quickly and waited for the person to answer. I had a friend I'd met at a wrestling show who stayed in Conneticuit and was a pretty hardcore partier... I knew if I wanted to show Jacob a good time, I had to call this person.

"Cameron? It's Mar.... I need you to help me get drunk."


	10. Chapter 10

Five hours, three clubs and a million vodka shots later, Jacob and I slowly made our way back to the hotel. Despite my earlier reservations, Jacob had actually been quite fun to hang out with. All he had to do was mention his uncle and we got into the clubs, no questions asked. I had started off with some bacardi breezers - I definitely didn't want to be hungover when entertaining my guests the next day - but we had quickly moved on to Vodka shots before playing a game where we had to drink a shot/swig of beer whenever the title of the song that was playing at that moment was heard. All in all - I was wrecked. Jacob was even worse than me, he could barely stand up straight and was completely incomprehensive when speaking. All through the night we had been kissing and dancing provocatively together, and as I helped him into the elevator, I saw the looks he was giving me and I knew what was on his mind. I couldn't help but shudder in disgust. There was no way I was giving into him. He may be hot and all, but I didn't want to be known as one of those people who slept with business assocaites to seal the deal.

"Here we are." I sung out, helping slot his room card and helping him over to the bed. I was glad to see he was so wrecked that he probably wouldn't remember anything. He was already half-asleep by this point. So I turned him over onto his side to make sure he didn't vomit and choke and die, before returning to my own bedroom and collapsing into my bed with exhaustion. It had been a long, tiring day. I even forgot to check my phone as I slipped into a peaceful dreamland and woke five hours later still slightly drunk and feeling all icky with drunkenness.

I showered and changed quickly into black skinnys and a black tank with a red plaid shirt over it. I called into Mr and Mrs Wong's room only to be notified that they wanted to meet myself and Jacob for breakfast at 10.30. That gave me half an hour to get rid of any lasting hangover symptoms. I called into Jacob's room to make sure he was still alive. He was awake but sounded absolutely terrible, and I left him to shower and change. At 10.25, I quickly gathered the relevant documents and contracts together before heading down to breakfast. I wondered what it was Mr and Mrs Wong had planned for after our breakfast.

"I'm surprised you both resurfaced." Mr Wong grinned at us as we both - Jacob looking a lot worse than I felt - seated ourselves next to them. "You look as though you had a good time."

"The best time." Jacob spent the next few minutes describing what we had done and where we had gone. His aunt and uncle both shot me grateful looks for helping their seemingly anti-social nephew have fun. I smiled back in return.

When I was seated at the table with some pancakes and the contracts had been signed and all the neccessary corporate work had been pushed aside, Mr and Mrs Wong retired to the gym for an hour, while Jacob went back to his room to sleep. Sighing contentedly, I turned my cell phone on and wasn't surprised to see a lot of messages waiting from Steph, Peter and Paul. I thought about calling them, but decided things would be easier and quicker if I just went for the big man himself. Dialing Vince McMahon's number, I chewed absent mindedly on my pancakes whilst observing everyone in the restaurant.

"McCallan." I don't know how Vince had my number, but I decided to just run with it. "What the hell have you done with my advertisers?"

I rolled my eyes. "I've kidnapped them so that I can cut them up into little pieces and scatter them all across the world.... relax Vince they're here in Connecticut with me."

"And what exactly are you doing there?" He sounded angry. I decided to wind him up a little longer before dropping my bombshell.

"Well, I took Mr Wong's nephew out last night and got him absolutely trashed." I heard him suck in a breath. "Then I ended up sleeping late and missing my breakfast date with them, so now I'm sitting in the lobby waiting for them to show up so they can chew my ass out."

"GOD DAMMIT MCCALLAN, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Vince's voice was so loud that the people over in the table next to me sent a few strange looks my way.

"Vince, remember that word relax? I suggest you use it right now." I took a sip of water and waited for a few moments, listening to his incoherent ramblings. "Mr Wong won't appreciate meeting his newest business partner when he's all full of rage the way you are."

"New bus- what the fuck do you mean new business partner?"

I chuckled. "The contracts were signed this morning. Everything you requested has been agreed to. I'm bringing the Wong's to the PPV tomorrow, but I need to know if you can send the private jet to Conneticuit to take us to Florida."

"But- but.. but how did you??" I tried to imagine the shocked look on his face, which only made me laugh harder.

"I'll explain the full story to you in proper detail tomorrow. But right now I need to know if you can get the jet here for 3pm. They'll want to rest a little bit in Tampa before spending all day tomorrow at the arena."

"I'll get it sorted. It'll pick you all up at 3 at the airport. I'll also have hotels booked for you and the limo will pick you up in Tampa when the plane lands to take you to your hotel and then to the arena tomorrow."

"Thank you." I got to my feet and headed back to my room, the contracts safely tucked under my arm. "I have to go right now but trust me, it's all been taken care of."

"I don't know what you did," Vince said, the surprise in his voice evident. "But whatever it is, you deserve a raise for it."

I laughed. "Bye Mr McMahon." Hanging up the phone, I placed the documents securely in with my laptop and zipped it up tight. I packed all the rest of my things into my suitcase and left it behind the door. I sent a text to Peter asking how he was, how the house show had went and that I'd see him at the arena tomorrow morning. Almost instantly my phone began ringing. Not in the mood for another lecture or any more grilling - I was still feeling the affects of last night... exactly how many shots had I had?? - I just let it ring out.

Just as I sat down on the bed, the door went. Getting to my feet, I peered through the peep hole to see Jacob standing outside.

"Hey Jacob." I smiled at him as I opened the door to greet him. "Is everything okay?"

He nodded and returned the smile. "My uncle wants to know when we have to be ready to leave for Florida?"

"The limo will pick us up at 2.30, we should be on the jet by three pm." I paused. "If there's anything your aunt and uncle wish me to do then just call me."  
He nodded and kissed my hand. "Thank you very much for showing us such a good time."

I giggled. "Trust me, it's been my pleasure."

When 2.30pm came, I was more than ready to get in the limo to go to the airport. Mr and Mrs Wong had used their remaining time in Conneticuit to just rest in the hotel spa, before packing their things and meeting me in the lobby. The flight was brief, but not short of laughs. Mr Wong kept us all entertained with his many jokes, while Jacob did a pretty accurate impression of Michael Jackson. All too soon we were landing in Florida. When we got to the hotel - I was already beginning to really tire of the whole hotel scene - we all freshened up before meeting for dinner once more. This time business wasn't even mentioned, we just had a good time. After that it was to the bar for a couple of cold ones before off to bed for the day ahead. I was excited beyond belief. It would be my first PPV as a WWE employee! Not to mention it would be the first time I was at an actual PPV!! I pondered for a while over how Stephanie and moreso Vince would react once they found out just how badly I had went behind their backs and done business. I knew tomorrow could possibly be my last day in the WWE, but I vowed to enjoy it.

The next morning, I woke up feeling sick with nerves. I tried to forget about what lay ahead, but all I kept thinking about was how angry Stephanie and Vince would be when they realised I had entertained their business associates for a full weekend without being in contact with them at all. As we drove to the arena, I couldn't help but forget about my worries for a moment as I thought over the past two days. The Wong's were genuinely nice people, and didn't think they were big shots just because they were super rich. Jacob, while being very shy, was a great guy and fun to be around, while Mr & Mrs Wong hadn't been condescending or patronising towards me at all... rather, they had treated me like an old friend. I realised I had actually enjoyed the entire weekend - tiring as it may have been. It saddened me slightly to be saying goodbye to them so soon after getting to know them. As we were leaving the limo and heading into the practically deserted arena, Mr Wong held out a card for me to take.

"If you are ever wanting to get in touch from Scotland, please don't hesitate to ask my dear." He bent down and kissed my hand again. Awww.

"Thank you." I couldn't help but blush. "I hope you've enjoyed this weekend as much as I have."  
"Oh we have Marley." Mrs Wong said ernestly. "Thank you so much for entertaining us the way you have."

I opened my mouth to answer when I heard someone calling my name. Turning, I felt my heart rate quicken as Shane McMahon stalked up to us.

"You must be Mr and Mrs Wong." Shaking both their hands, he turned to me. "We've been looking for you."

I saw the significant look in his eyes, and I suddenly felt sick. "Oh really?"

His eyes were glinting. "Yes. Really. Could you go see my sister right now? I'll take Mr and Mrs Wong to meet my father."

I smiled goodbye to the Wong's as Shane ushered them off. Turning back, I saw the glare he shot me.

_Get going._ He mouthed.

Dejectedly, I slowly made my way towards Stephanie's office, the contracts and other important documents tucked under my arm. When I eventually found the room I was looking for, I hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door.

_Here goes nothing_.

Upon knocking, I breezed right in. But froze when I saw Vince McMahon sitting at the desk talking to Steph, Paul and Peter. My nausea only increased. I hadn't banked on having to face them both at once. Especially not with Peter and Paul present. Upon seeing me walk in, all four of them got to their feet.

"I can explain." I blurted quickly. Paul and Peter shared a glance as Stephanie advanced on me.

"Why did you do all that by yourself?" She asked softly, holding out her hand for the folder. I handed it to her and tried to look anywhere but at them.

"Because you sounded desperate, and it just popped into my head. Shane couldn't make it and Wong sounded like he would be mad if he didn't meet someone this specific weekend. I figured me going would be better than no-one going and so-"

"Marley relax." Paul laughed, motioning for me to sit on the sofa. "No-one's mad at you."

"I can't believe he agreed to absolutely everything." Stephanie whispered as she read through the contract. "He had no queries at all?"

I shrugged, the entire night a bit blurry for me. "I made him see exactly what he would gain by associating his company with the WWE and he bought it."  
"I need to go meet him, but I want to have a long talk with you when I get back young lady." Stephanie said sternly, as her and Vince got to their feet. "I don't know how you managed to pull it all off, but well done. Your inititive may have saved us a lot of hassle."

As her and Vince breezed past, I sat still for a few moments, trying to absorb what had just happened. They hadn't fired me, which was good. Neither had they yelled at me. Also good. But Vince hadn't said a word... and I hadn't even looked up at him to see if his face told any stories or not. Paul and Stephanie seemed pretty cool about it all... but what did Stephanie mean by long talk? I realised what I had done could have seriously jeoparadised the entire WWE, but in the end, it had all worked out right? Surely that must count for something.

"Did you go out clubbing last night?" Peter asked, coming over to sit beside me.

I frowned. "No I did not! What makes you ask that?"

"Well, you look like you're about to throw up."

"That's cuz I thought I was gonna get murdered for what I did."

"You did good." Paul said with a shrug. "They might not like the fact you went ahead and did it without consulting them, but at the end of the day it had good results. They can't deny that."

"Marley, you're shaking." Peter said, grabbing my hand in his and rubbing it gently. "No-one's angry with you babe. It's gonna be okay."

Sighing, I got to my feet. I needed some air. "I'm gonna go get some coffee or something. Does Stephanie need anything done?"

Paul shook his head. "We're good right now."

I smiled and made my way over to the door. "I won't be long then."

"Bye!" Peter called.

As I walked out the room, I almost crashed yet again into another broad chest.

"Son of a-" I cut off as I recognised the t-shirt I was staring at. Open-mouthed, I looked up until I was gazing into the face of the one and only Shawn Michaels.

"Well hello there." He smiled. "Sorry if I startled you."

"Umm." I cleared my throat and tried to snap out of it. If there was one person I loved more than Triple H, it was Shawn Michaels. Shawn was my favouritest _ever_. Hands down. Being right in front of him, I was marking inside so badly for him. I just wanted to grab him and hug him so tight. Just to say that I had.

"Paul's in there." I managed to blurt, pointing to the door behind me. "Sorry for banging you." Seeing his mouth twist into a slight smirk, I felt like kicking myself. "I mean sorry for bumping into you."

He chuckled. "Chill out little girl. You seem tense."

I tried to laugh, but it sounded weird. "Sorry, I'll let you past now."

Ignoring the strange looks he was giving me, I dodged round him and went on my journey for some coffee. I approached the table and poured myself a cup, trying to keep my hands from shaking too badly.

"Well well well, the wanderer returns."

I closed my eyes momentarily, willing myself not to laugh. "So even you know about my defying orders?"

I turned round to see John staring at me with an amused expression. "I think almost everyone in the entire city heard Vince yelling about a new intern kidnapping his advertisers."

I chuckled and accepted his hug. "Well, I brought them back in one piece. Happy and on board might I add. I think I did a pretty good job."

He smiled. "I'm sure you did.... but you look beat."

I shrugged. "It's just the nerves from earlier. I thought I was going to be fired." When he shot me a questioning look, I rolled my eyes. "Don't ask."

"Excited to be working your first PPV?" He asked as we started walking, to where I did not know.

I chuckled. "I haven't done any work yet. Stephanie's away somewhere and Paul says I'm not needed right now.... I always kind of imagined PPVs being a bit more hectic than this."

He opened his mouth to reply when suddenly he grimaced, gazing at something from behind me.

"I think you're wanted." He mumbled, giving me a brief one-armed hug before skillfully sliding away.

I took a deep breath and turned, coming almost nose to nose with Stephanie.

"My office, now." She said crisply. Before turning on her heels and stalking away.

A few people close to us shot me a sympathetic glance, and I sent a prayer up to God almighty to let me come out of this upcoming encounter alive, and in one piece.

And preferably employed.


	11. Chapter 11

I walked into Stephanie's office for the night and stood at the desk as Stephanie made herself comfortable behind it. A couple of moments later, Vince came stalking in the door, the Wong family following him. Their faces lit up as they noticed me, and I grinned back at them.

"Take a seat beside me Marley will you?" Stephanie asked in a falsely sweet voice. I was suddenly so intimidated by her. I couldn't tell what type of mood she was in, or what kind of trouble I was in. She could be capable of anything. I didn't fear for my life exactly, but my palms were clammy. Stephanie McMahon, I had decided, was my biggest fear.

"We were just talking to Mr Wong," Stephanie continued once I had seated myself next to her and she had passed me my notebook. I shot her a strange look. Why was she acting like I was just her assisstant? Why wasn't she ripping into me? "And he told us all about your weekend you guys had together." Mr Wong winked at me when Vince and Stephanie weren't looking. I smiled back slightly. Employed for a week and already I was acting hardcore. "And Mr Wong has requested that you be his rep for whenever he comes to the United States."

I suddenly forgot about the notes I was supposed to be taking and dropped my pen altogether. "Wait, what? That's what you called me in for? I thought you were gonna kick my ass for doing all this!!"

She stared at me strangely, and I instantly back-peddled. "I mean, well, you know, what we talked about earlier? What happened-"

"That's irrelevant now," Vince cut in, waving his hand towards Stephanie. "Continue Stephanie."

Stephanie cleared her throat and after throwing me another strange look, went on. "And well, if you're up for it, we'd be willing to make sure you're the one who entertains Mr Wong and his family whenever he visits here, which would be about three or four times over the next six months. How do you feel about that Marley?"

I didn't even need to think twice. "I'll do it."

Mr and Mrs Wong shared a grin. "Great, we had a very fun time with you this weekend Marley. And of course, Jacob had the time of his life, didn't you boy?" Jacob didn't answer, only blushed.

"Mr Wong also suggested that you maybe contribute to some creative meetings," Vince's eyes were boring into mine, and I had no choice but to catch his gaze. He was smirking at me. "He says that you have some pretty good ideas for future fueds and the like." I couldn't help but throw an accusing glance Mr Wong's way. "I found that very interesting, seeing as you've only been part of the company for less than a-"

"Okay!" Stephanie and I both jumped to our feet, thinking the same thing at the exact same moment. "Now that we have that sorted, we really need to start getting ready for the show. Dad, if you could show the Wong's to their special booth for tonight, Marley and I need to go down to the ring with Paul and Peter."

Vince and the Wong's left, leaving Steph and I alone as we made our way through the arena.

"I don't exactly appreciate you going and doing all that without one bit of consultation first." Stephanie said quietly as we stopped off for some coffee. Once again, employed for a week and already a caffeine addict. "Anything could have happened to you or the deal could have gone sour and you would have been made to take all the blame. I appreciate that you were trying to help Marley but what if they hadn't been as nice as they are? Huh? What if Mr Wong hadn't brought his wife? What if it had been some perverted old man who saw a teenager come collect him and just assume the worst about you and about our company as a whole." I hung my head in shame. She was so right. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad honey, and like I said, I'm glad you tried to help because it really benefited us in the long run. Just please don't go over my head with anything like this next time okay? I don't want to put you in any danger whatsoever."

I smiled sadly. She didn't sound angry, just disappointed, and that made me feel worse. "I'm so sorry Stephanie, I promise it won't happen again."

She ruffled my hair affectionately. "Atta girl. Now let's detour back to Paul's locker-room. I want you in your gear, Peter says he can't spar with anyone but you before a PPV."

I rolled my eyes. "He's so full of shit, man. How can he know that if this is his first PPV?"

Stephanie laughed as I ran into the bathroom to quickly change into more comfortable gear. I left the room in my socks, my boots under one arm. "I dunno, but I'd like to see you in action myself."

"Gonna try scout me are ya?" I grinned as we came down the ramp. I sat on the edge of the ramp and quickly tied up my boots.

"Oh yeah," Stephanie spotted her husband in the ring with their nephew and became distracted. "Marley McCallan, the newest WWE Diva."

"I'd rather be just a WWE Superstar than a resident slut." Michelle McCool walked by me as I said this and shot me a scowl, which Stephanie noticed. Stephanie and I shared a look and we both burst out giggling.

"Hey, Marley?!" I heard Peter yell. "Quit your laughing and get your cute ass in this ring."

I stood up and mock-saluted. "Yes sir, want me to get on my knees and lick your boots as well- I said lick your boots!" I added, as almost every male in the vicinity turned to stare at me wide-eyed. I slid into the ring as Paul slid out. Paul tried to hug Stephanie who squealed and wriggled away from his sweaty form.

"You look much more relaxed." Peter observed as he took a drink of water. I made a mental note that near enough every WWE Superstar and agent, past and present, were littering the ring, watching us work. "You and Steph kiss and make up?"

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up man, I honestly thought she was gonna kill me." We started circling each other before locking up. "Turns out she was just worried about me."

"Of course she's worried about you," Peter put me in a headlock which I quickly wriggled out of. Going for an arm-drag takedown I locked in an arm-bar. "You're her responsibility now. She wants to look after you and make this experience as fun as possible before you go back." He countered and attempted the figure-four, which I countered and slid out the ring, pacing back and forth before getting back inside. We were so used to sparring with each other inside the ring that the moves came second nature to us. We didn't even need to call anything, we knew each other so well. He charged me and I grabbed his neck, flipping up and over to deliver an upside down neckbreaker. I could hear some murmering by now from everyone watching, but it was already too late. I was already in the zone, and nothing would get me out of it.

"Let's do this." I hissed. Peter grinned as he shot me into the ropes and went for a supplex. He threw me up on his shoulders for a power-bomb which I countered into a hurricanrana. I ran up the turnbuckles and hit a flying drop kick before getting back up and attempting a moonsault. He moved out the way and I landed on my feet, he bumped me with a clothesline and picked me up once again to execute a back-breaker. He spun me over his shoulder and grabbed me in a headlock, torquing my neck so badly that I felt a little twinge of pain.

"Give?" He breathed, I couldn't see his face but I guessed he would be looking pretty smug thinking he had me beat.

"Never!" I hissed back. I brought my legs right up through his arms and grabbed his neck with my feet, flipping up and over and within a second I had managed to lock in the camel clutch. I pulled his head back as far as I could, making sure to sit on his back so his body couldn't move with the pull. He was gritting his teeth from the pain, trying to hide the fact that I was dominating him. I quickly flipped round and pulled him into the crossface, which he managed to counter and flipped up and went for another spinebuster. I wriggled free and he pushed me on my ass, making his way over to the top turnbuckle. I waited till he was mid-air before rolling away, and as he got to his feet, I nipped up and delivered a sweet Sweet Chin Music. He fell down and stayed down, and I sat on his chest and struck a pose. As easily as that I was back out the zone. Our heads both snapped round as we heard applause from the people who were watching at ringside. I felt my face begin to burn as Peter pulled me to my feet and threw me back against the ropes. I ducked his arm and moonsaulted from the second rope into his arms, were he promptly gave me a slam and covered me for the imaginary one two three.

"Okay guys, quit showing off!" Paul yelled down from where him and Stephanie stood.

Peter, who was panting a little bit, helped me to my feet again. I was still blushing madly, and Peter noticed this. "You don't need to get embarrassed. It is a wrestling show, we're supposed to practise in the ring." He glanced at Paul, who gave him a thumbs up. "No-one expected you to be this good by the way. So trust me, this is great." He peered closer at me, and his mouth fell open in outrage. "You aren't even out of breath!"

I smiled smugly up at him as I flipped over the ropes and walked backwards up the ramp. "It takes more than a little run around the ring to make me pant, baby." Some guys nearby laughed at my crudeness. I realised that no-one would probably be used to my dirty jokes and dirty language. But oh well, they'd just have to learn, I guess. I passed Stephanie, who told me to meet her at Gorilla in an hour when the doors opened.

"Well well well, that was impressive."

Less than a foot away from my locker-room, I didn't stop walking. "Don't be jealous of something you can't afford."

Dave laughed as he leant in the doorway while I gathered all my clothes I would be changing into for the show. "Been here a week and already made quite the impression... what was it I heard there about you getting on your knees and licking someone's-"

"BOOTS!" I cried out in mock indignation, which only made him laugh harder. "Geez, you yanks, what are yeez like? Take everything to heart. If I can't have no fake dirty talk then I ain't gonna have a very happy time in the good ol' US of A." I nodded towards the bathroom. "I gotta shower, I'll only be a minute if you wanna wait?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You wanna lick my boots too?"

I tried to not laugh but couldn't help it. "Okay, good one, nice one liner. Smooth. Now if you don't want to talk to me, get out of here while I get naked. You won't be able to control yourself if you get a look at my beautiful body."

Dave shook his head. "My my, such a dirty mouth for someone so young. Kids these days, now, when I was young-"

I pretended to look shocked. "What's this? You're actually agreeing that you're an old man then?"

His face dropped. "I barely know you yet all I get is abuse."

I bounded over and hugged him playfully. "I'm sorry Davey, I didn't mean anything by it. Please just know that's who I am."

Dave ruffled my hair affectionately. "Alright, I'll forgive you this time. I gotta go but I meant it when I said you were impressive out there, I didn't know you knew how to wrestle at all, never mind like that. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Dave."

"Bye Marley."

After my shower I washed and dressed and did my hair and make-up all nice. I wanted to look good for my first PPV. Stephanie had the help of other people from Smackdown, RAW and ECW all working with her on this, so I wasn't all that needed. I distributed some schedules and collected some coffee, and also sat in on the final script meeting but other than that, I had free reign to just sit about in the Gorilla for the majority of the show or walk about talking to all the wrestlers. I had been looking for John for about 45 minutes and couldn't find him anywhere. It wasn't work-related, I just wanted to see him to wish him luck in his match tonight. The PPV was well under way and the place was buzzing. Cyber Sunday 09 had been a great PPV so far, and it was gonna be headlined between John Cena and Cody Rhodes. I had met Cody briefly, and we had shared some small talk before I'd wished him luck and went on my way. Cody wasn't winning tonight, which was too bad, cuz he had gotten amazing over the past year.

"Marley." I heard his voice. "Over here."

I turned and grinned and ran up to were John stood. I hugged him tightly and pecked him on the cheek. He wiggled his eyebrows at me playfully.

"Someone seems happy to see me." He teased. I wacked him on the arm playfully.

"I've been looking for you for ages." I pouted, and he pulled me in for a one armed hug. He was already in gear and doing squats, warming up for his upcoming match. "Are you nervous?"

He shook his head. "Nah, just excited." He glanced up at me as he began stretching his legs. "How'd you get on today??"

I quickly laid out how my day had gone. "No biggie. I'm not all that needed because Steph has help running PPVs, not to mention Vince is here, so it's all good. I get free reign to just wander around doing whatever the hell I want as long as I get Steph and Vince coffee every couple of hours."

He chuckled and held out his arm. "Walk me to Gorilla?"

I obliged. "Certainly, Sir."

We made our way to the Gorilla, smiling at everyone we passed. When we got there, Stephanie nodded to John and told him his cue would be in five minutes. Cody was already there with his father whispering encouraging words in his ear.

"You'll do great John." I whispered. He smiled and hugged me once more.

"Be here when I get back?" He asked, and I could see the hint of a blush on his cheeks. "I want to ask you something."

I nodded, feeling slightly confused. "Um, sure, whatever."

Cody left, and in a few moments, John's music began. The moment he walked through the curtain, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Kody Hall standing there.

"Kody!" I screamed, throwing my arms around him. When he only half-heartedly hugged me back, I studied his face in concern, noticing the hollow look in his eyes. "What's happened?"

He took a moment to compose himself, taking a deep breath. He opened his mouth and closed it again a few times. I was getting seriously concerned for his wellbeing when I heard it.

"It's Adele, she slept with Peter."


	12. Chapter 12

"Okay, now you can tell me the full story... if you're ready."

After hearing what Kody had said, I had wasted no time in getting us out of the arena. Stephanie didn't mind to see me go early, and I could just catch a ride from someone to the next RAW show anyway. I hadn't said goodbye to Peter because I hadn't seen him, and I hadn't had a chance to wait around and see what John had wanted to ask me. Kody hadn't felt up to going to dinner, so I had just taken him straight back to my hotel room.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as I poured us both some strong whisky. "I don't even know what happened. I mean, I thought we were pretty happy together. We've been together almost two years Mar... then all of a sudden I find these pictures of them sitting in their underwear kissing. I asked her about it, I thought it might be some cruel joke. I mean, I know what you and Peter are like, I honestly thought you were in on this as a rib." He looked so gutted, I felt so bad for him. "I asked her about it, and she just avoided answering so I got angry. When I got angry she just hit out with it, she said her and Peter have been seeing each other in secret for about three months now."

I thought back, trying to pinpoint any signs that would show Adele and Peter held attraction for each other. Three months ago was when he started wrestling for Ring Of Honor. But I couldn't find any. Whenever Adele and Peter were together, the entire group were there. The only girl who ever just hung out with Pete, Max and Kody other than me was Gwen. I felt bad for Kody, he really didn't deserve this. I also felt quite pissed off that Peter hadn't told me about this. In saying that, he most likely knew I would go to Kody straight away if I found out about this information. But still, I was angry at both Peter and Adele for putting Kody through this. After Peter, Kody was my best friend. Hell, sometimes he was more of a best friend to me than Peter ever could be. Kody was sweet, kind and gentle and extremely hot... who the hell would cheat on him??

"I'm sorry Kody." I said, grabbing his hand and rubbing it gently. "I honestly didn't have a clue. If I'd even had suspicions you know I would tell you."

He smiled at me. "Yeah, I know. Thanks Marley. I just... it's so hard to take in you know? I mean, it hurts to know that she did it. But Pete? To know that the guy you've been best friends with for sixteen years... since you were three years old. To know that he'll steal your girl from you and not even care.." He held his head in his hands. "It's so hard to believe. I mean, Peter and me, we don't do this kind of shit."

I scooted closer to Kody and held him close to me. I knew he was probably trying hard not to cry. "It's okay Kody, you know you don't have to hide from me." I heard him sniffling and I knew he had succumbed to tears. "Maybe once you both calm down you can talk things through?"

He shook his head vehemently. "No. It's over. I'm not having anyone treat me like a fool and cheat on me. Especially not for three fucking months and especially not with my fucking best friend. The bitch can rot in hell for all I care."

I automatically winced. Adele was still my friend. "You're speaking angry thoughts right now, maybe if you sleep on it you'll feel different."

He shook his head and stared at the empty glass in front of him. "I wanna go get drunk. Fancy coming partying with me?"

I raised my eyebrows. I knew how that would end. "Um, sure, I guess, hold on I'll go change real quick."

Within half an hour, I was ready. I knew the PPV had ended not long ago, and I wondered if I would bump into anyone from the show at the nearby club I was taking Kody to. We were in Florida, so a lot of locals were out dancing around with the WWE tonight. We entered a nearby club, which was already crowded, and made our way to the bar. We ordered our drinks and found an empty table near the back of the bar. We were sitting for about fifteen minutes when I suddenly heard someone calling my name.

"McCallan!! Hey, McCallan!"

I turned to see Jeff Hardy waving at me from his table. Sitting with his was his brother Matt, Shane Helms, Dolph Ziggler, Maria, Victoria, Natalya, Brian Kendrick and Kizarny. Kody and I got to our feet and made our way over, drinks in hand, to join them.

"You shouldn't be in here!" Natalya teased. "Far too young missy."

I grinned. I had met Natalya during the last house show I was at, and she had been really nice to me. She was one of my favourite Divas, and I loved watching her work. "I won't tell if you won't."

"Where's your other half?" Maria asked. When I frowned in confusion, she elaborated. "Peter?"

"Oh," Everyone noticed Kody flinch at the mention of his name, and they all shared a look. "Well, I dunno. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him since the show started so I thought I'd bounce out early if Steph didn't mind and here we are." At their questioning stares, I wriggled my eyebrows at them all to tell them to drop it as Kody stared into his glass.

A few hours later, I was pretty drunk. I'd had a great time with all my Smackdown co-workers, and Kody had finally managed to get his mind off Peter and Adele when Maria dragged him up to dance. None of these guys felt that the party was anywhere near over, and so I was happy to just rock out with them until the sun came up. I knew I would probably regret it in the morning when I woke up with a bitching hangover, but Matt had offered to give me and Kody a ride to RAW, seeing as he would be making an appearance during the show. At least I didn't have to worry about driving anywhere.

"Hey Marley!" Victoria came over and slung an arm round my shoulders. She was my most favourite Diva ever, as I'd told her a dozen times, and we had become pretty chummy throughout the evening. "We're all heading back to Shane's for a while, care to join?"

I glanced at Kody, who was next to me at the bar, getting one last drink in. He caught my eye and knew what I was thinking, smiling slightly. I knew that, despite the emotional turmoil he was in right now, he'd had a pretty good evening.

"I think I'll pass Lisa-Marie," I said, hugging her tightly round the waist. "Kody and I are just gonna go back to the hotel."

"Marley," Kody began. "You don't need to come back with me-" But I cut him off by grabbing his hand.

"Honestly, Li-Marie, thanks but we'll pass this time." When I was drunk, I got very tactile, as Lisa-Marie had soon found out. I hugged her and this time clung to her waist. "Thank you for being so nice to me tonight."

She smiled and kissed my cheek. "Anytime honey, and next time, I won't take no for an answer. See you at the house show!"

"See you!" I called, waving at everyone else. Kody opened his mouth to probably bitch me out for not going to a party when Jeff Hardy approached me and slipped me his number.

"We need to hang out more Marley," He smiled at me and Kody. "You guys are welcome at any parties we have from now on, alright? Are you sure you don't want to come back to Shane's?"

"We're sure." I said with a small smile, in one night I had made tons of friends, and I knew they would be my friends for a long time. "I'll see you on Tuesday, Jeff."

"Bye." He shook Kody's hand, kissed my cheek and then they left, leaving Kody and I alone. We had two more drinks each before calling it a night. When we got to the hotel, the bar was still open. We caught each others eye and shrugged. Might as well make a night of it, right? I'd been on cider all night, so I decided to have one or two vodkas before heading to bed. If I'd been sober, I would have known that this would make me ill, but at this point, I wasn't paying attention to much other than Kody, who had grown solemn once more. He was downing back shots of vodka after being on beer all night. At least I wouldn't be alone in puking my guts up come morning.

"Kody, babe, you've got to stop moping like this," I slid my arm round his waist and cuddled closer to him inside our little booth. "She's a whore, right? And Pete's a jackoff for doing this to you. But come on, it's not as if you guys were gonna get married or anything. There's plenty more fish in the sea for a hottie like you." He stared down at me in amusement, kissing my forehead tenderly. "You're well too nice to cheat on Kody babes."

He laughed hollowly. "Adele clearly didn't think so."

I reached up and kissed him right under his chin. "Adele's stupid then." I whispered.

That was when it happened, what I knew would happen the moment Kody suggested we go out. I had planned not to let myself get drunk, but I'd been having too good a time with my new friends to really notice how much drink I was knocking back until it was too late. Kody pressed his lips against mine and kissed me hungrily. I pushed him off me slightly and glanced at my watch. It was almost 3am, the bar would be closing soon, which was good, it meant we couldn't get anymore drunker. I grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the elevator, giggling all the way.

"We shouldn't do this," I mumbled as we stood in the elevator. He was kissing my neck, his hands roaming all over my body. "We'll regret this in the morning you know."

"So what?" Kody said, kissing me again. I had to admit, he was a great kisser. "It's just some drunken fun. No big deal."

"Adele might think it's a big deal." I could have kicked myself as I saw his face fall at the mention of her name. "I'm sorry Kody, look let's just go to bed alright?"

We made it to my hotel room without causing too much of a ruckus. The moment the door was closed and locked behind us, Kody pounced on me again. He must have sensed my trepadition, because he stopped his kissing and stared at me seriously.

"Honestly, this is nothing, it's just to make us both feel better okay?"

I thought about it. In the long run, what harm could it do? I mean, it's not as if either of us were attached... not anymore at least. Kody and I had far too strong a friendship to let something like this create tension. So we were in the clear to have as much fun as we wanted. I kissed him back hungrily, making short work of his clothes as I pushed him backwards onto the bed. I didn't think about Peter, or Adele, or the fact that I had some work that needed done for tomorrows show. I had totally forgotten that John had wanted to ask me something after the show. And as my cell phone started ringing, probably my parents calling me seeing as I hadn't spoken to them in a while... I just ignored it, and had some fun with Kody. Would I regret it in the morning?

I didn't even care.

I woke up Monday morning, my head splitting in two and my stomach churning horribly. The moment I woke up, two things came to my attention.

1. I had slept in, and most likely missed my lift from Matt.

2. There was someone in the bed with me.

It didn't take me long to figure out who it was. I had known from the moment we stepped into that club and had our first drink that Kody and I would end up sleeping together. He was just too upset and we both loved sex too much to really say no to the other. What was some casual sex between friends right? I turned on my side and found him staring at me.

"Do you know how creepy that is to know someone has been watching you sleep?" I asked with a smirk.

He returned my smirk and kissed me deeply, leaving me breathless. "Somehow, I don't think you mind."

I sighed and stretched, feeling rather content, all thoughts of Peter, John, Adele and work insignificant. Wow, wait. Why was John in that list?? "We are in so much trouble if they find out by the way."

"They won't find out." Kody said, kissing my neck. I could tell he wanted to go again and while the thought was nice, now that I was sober, I would probably just laugh in his face halfway through it. I pushed him off me and made to get out of bed, but he grabbed me round the waist and hauled me underneath him, where he began to attack me with kisses once more.

"Kody, come on. What the hell?" I breathed, hating myself over the fact my body was reacting so strongly to his kisses. "You know we're gonna regret this."

"No we won't." He whispered, moving up and kissing me soundly on the mouth. I moaned slightly and wrapped my legs around him. "Come on, it's just some fun, like you said last night."

I sighed. What the hell. It_ was_ only casual sex. And it wasn't as if anyone would be angry at us for doing this. My parents would probably be angry if this resulted in me getting pregnant but I found that possibility very unlikely to happen.

Two hours later, I had packed up my things and checked out of the hotel. Matt was waiting next to his rental for me, leaning on the bonnet as he chatted away to Kody, who had sunglasses on to hide the fact he was feeling rough. I was feeling marginally better, but my head still panged a little bit.

"Ready to go Marley?" Matt asked, taking my bags from me and placing them in the trunk of his car. Kody noticed how many more bags I had than Matt and chuckled. "If we go right now we can probably get there in time for lunch, you said Stephanie wanted you there for two right?"

I nodded, slipping in the back seat and hauling out my laptop. I'd had some e-mails to send out on Steph's behalf pertaining to the next PPV which I had forgotten to do. Kody slipped into the passenger seat while Matt started the car up and we were off. The majority of the journey was spent with me listening in to Matt and Kody's discussions on various things. I realised that Peter was going to be there tonight, and that worried me. We hadn't mentioned Adele and Peter's affair since last night, and Kody had seemed pretty normal this morning, which could possibly mean he was feeling better about the whole situation. I didn't know what he would do if he met Peter and Peter was unaware that Kody knew about him and Adele. I made that my first mission of the day, find Peter and warn him without Kody knowing what I was doing. I loved Kody and I was angry that Pete had caused him so much hurt... but I didn't want anything to happen to Peter. And I knew if Kody had the chance, he would kill Peter. I also made a mental note to talk to Stephanie and Paul about Peter's birthday, which was on Saturday. We were planning on having a Halloween-themed birthday party for him, as his birthday fell on Halloween night, after the house show on Saturday, and I had to make sure Paul and Stephanie knew about it so that they could be there and so that Paul could call all of Peter's family and make sure they were there as well. I had gotten Peter's gift a while ago, so I was all set.

"I can't seem to get rid of you can I? You following me now?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed my way into his locker-room. I'd been at the arena for almost half an hour and my search for Peter had been unsuccessful. I had left Kody in the trusting hands of Matt, and instead had come in search of someone to talk to. Seeing as Dave Batista's locker-room was the first one I came across, I had knocked on his door and stood patiently waiting as he opened the door and stared at me in amusement.

"You wish buddy, I came to see how you were after last night."  
Dave automatically winced. He had taken a bad bump on the outside of the ring during his match and had damaged his back slightly, I could see that it still hurt him to move around. "I'm doing okay, thanks for asking. I just landed awkwardly is all." He stared at me, and I could see a little twinkle in his eye. "I like how you wait till today to ask me if I was okay instead of asking me after my match."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I was busy helping a friend heal his broken heart. I'm here now aren't I?"

Dave paused in his stretching to stare at me quizically. "What's wrong with Peter's heart?"

I laughed. "It's not Peter, I do have other friends you know." When he opened his mouth to reply, I held up my hand. "I don't want to hear a smart ass comment, I need to go find Stephanie. Feel better."

He hugged me. "Thanks Marley, see ya."

I casually strolled through the corridors, saying hello to everyone I saw.

"Marley!" I spun round and saw Peter rushing up to me, Stephanie on his heels.

"Yes?" I asked politely, shocked when he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a nearby locker room.

"Where the hell have you been?" Peter exploded, as Stephanie calmly entered the room and shut the door behind her.

I felt confused. "Excuse me?"

"Last night!" Peter burst out. "I came to see you after Cena's match and Steph said you'd gone. I tried calling you for hours last night and you didn't pick up. Then I find out you were at some bar last night and ended up leaving drunk with some guy-"

"That "some guy" was actually Kody!" I said hotly. "And if you must know, I took him out to cheer him up because you've been fucking his girlfriend. I didn't know I had to check in with you everytime I wanted to go out somewhere."

Peter had frozen while Stephanie was staring at her nephew in shock. "What do you mean-"

"He knows." I said shortly, all my anger at him and Adele building up once more. No-one hurt my friends. Not even if they were also my friends. "He knows all about it and he's pissed. I actually came looking for you to let you know that he's gonna confront you but now I wish I hadn't bothered. I hope he kicks your ass cuz you deserve it! How the hell could you do that to him Peter?"

Peter hung his head. "It just happened." He mumbled.

I snorted. "Oh spare me. I can't believe you would do something like this. You guys have been friends since you were three and now you're gonna willingly mess it up over a girl? You're an asshole Peter, no!" I added as he made to move towards me. "I'm so angry at you right now! You hurt him so badly Peter, that's not fair. And I'll have you know, you're not my keeper. I don't need to answer to you and I don't need to run it by you whenever I want to go someplace without you." I stalked to the door and opened it. "I'm gonna be working tonight and I'm sharing Steph's office, don't bother coming in when I'm there."

I stalked down the hallway angrily, ignoring Stephanie's calls for me. I was so angry that I wasn't paying attention to were I was going and I almost banged right into someone walking the opposite way. He reached out and caught me by the elbows, pulling me back to a standing position and scanning my face.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" I stared up at Shawn Michaels and froze. He chuckled. "It's Marley am I correct?"

I nodded numbly and he let me go. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to were I was going."

Shawn studied my face again. "You look angry, are you sure everything's okay?"

I nodded.

"You can talk to me you know." Shawn prodded. "I'm a pretty good listener."

I opened my mouth to explain the situation when suddenly Steph caught up with me.

"Marley come on, I need to talk to you."

"Hey Steph." Shawn said happily. "Is Paul here?"

"Yeah, he's around somewhere with the girls Shawn." Stephanie smiled at Shawn, and turned back to me. "You have to calm down."

"I'm fine." I replied shortly, noticing Shawn was still staring at me in concern. "Honestly, I'm fine." I added, and he seemed appeased by this.

"I'll talk to you later Steph, we have some things to discuss. It was great finally meeting you Marley!" He added, hugging us both before casually strolling away.

"Wow." I whispered. My second meeting with Shawn Michaels had gone much better than the first. He had seemed like he actually knew me. He was so cute. "Shawn Michaels just hugged me."

Forgetting why she wanted to talk to me, Stephanie laughed. "Yeah, pretty cool huh? Now come on, I need you at the Gorilla with me for the show. I wanna show you how the production trucks work, so that you can maybe spend some time there during a live show."

I felt my stomach leap. "Are you serious?"

She nodded and linked arms with me as we walked down the corridor. "Sure I'm sure. Basically I'm gonna teach you everything that I do at the shows, so that if you ever run a wrestling event in the future, you'll know how to do it. You're in the Creative meetings with me to be a better writer and also to take notes for me and keep me calm with lots of coffee." I laughed as we entered the production truck. "Right, Marley, this is Kevin. Kevin Dunn, this is Marley McCallan. Can you show her how all this is done? She'll be here for the first hour, after the first hour, come back to me at my station okay Marley?"

I nodded and hugged her. "Cool, Steph. Thank you."

She smiled and made her way to the door, she abruptly stopped and turned back.

"Oh, I forgot." I knew what was coming next. "When you come to my station, you need to tell me what exactly went on earlier."

I winked at her as Kevin placed some headphones on my ears. "Will do Steph, now go get some work done already."


	13. Chapter 13

"So tell me, it's been almost two months since you started working with the WWE, tell me all the goss. Are you having the time of your life or do you wish you were still stuck here in Nashua with us amazing people?"

I rolled my eyes and hit Max playfully on the arm. "You wish pretty boy. If I didn't dislike planes so much, I wouldn't even be here."

Max pretended to look offended. "So you're just using us because you have no-one else?"

I smirked. "Got it in one."

It had only been seven weeks, but it had been an amazing seven weeks. Peter and Kody had never had that blow-out, instead Kody had called Adele a bitch and slept with her sister as payback. He and Peter had sat down and talked things over, and they were bros again. I hadn't stayed mad at Peter for long, but he had apologised to Kody and that was the main thing, so I really had no reason to still be mad at him. His Halloween party had been great, but slightly tense between our group seeing as both Adele and Kody had been there. Kody had stayed on tour with me for a couple of weeks, and we still had our friends-with-benefits thing going on until he went back to stay in Nashua. Peter hadn't found out about it. No-one had actually. We had just been there as a comfort, and it was nice while it lasted. The month of November had come and gone and I became an expert at working the production truck and manning Stephanie's station for her during Smackdown shows. I always spent RAW shows delivering scripts and helping Stephanie make any last-minute changes. To get as much out of my WWE experience as I could, I was now helping them set up the ring before shows and sometimes I would catch a ride with the roadies and agents just to hear as many stories as I possibly could. My job was getting harder the nearer it came to Wrestlemania. There was only two weeks left till Christmas and Vince and Linda McMahon had invited us all over to theirs for Christmas dinner. I had the entire weekend off to relax before Armageddon, and I was taking full advantage of it by being back home.

"Well if we aren't good enough for you then maybe you should go call your wrestler friends," Chace teased. "Go get John or Dave or Beth or Shawn or Victoria... in fact," His face lit up. "You should totally bring all the Divas home with you one day."

I rolled my eyes. "As if any of them would look twice at any of you."

In my seven weeks as a WWE employee, I had made tons of new friends. On RAW, I spent most of my time with Melina, Beth and Mickie, who were absolute sweethearts and so fun to be around. I still loved to wind up Dave, and I was getting closer to John as the weeks went by. I'd met Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes through John, and despite Randy being a bit stuck-up, he was always polite enough to me. Cody was a doll, and we had become closer than close. What had surprised everyone though, and none moreso than me, was how quickly I had become close to Shawn Michaels. Every week at RAW, I went to go visit him in his locker-room, just to whine and complain about anything that was bothering me that specific day. He was a great listener and he was nice to me all the time. I loved hanging out with him and it seemed like we had an instant bond. I had met his family once or twice, and they were lovely people just like him. On Smackdown, Victoria and Natalya had become like my sisters. I missed them when I wasn't hanging out with them having fun. Hearing Li-Marie talk about retiring made my heart ache a little bit. I didn't want to see my idol retire... especially not before I'd had a chance to get in the ring with her. I'd become buddies with Matt and Jeff Hardy, and Edge too. Peter knew almost everyone, so I was just known automatically by association. The girl with the green hair was another name I went by. All in all I had settled in well into the WWE family, and any chance I got, I was back in Nashua catching up with my family and friends. I'd decided to make the most of my three days off and have a huge party at my house while my parents went to Lynne's for a while. Everyone was here and they were having a great time.

"Marley," I heard Daisy calling for me. I turned to see my friend approaching me, a large smile on her face. Behind her I could see a girl, heavily pregnant, looking absolutely exhausted and looking pretty timid. "Marley, can you c'mere a sec?"

I made my way through the throngs of people in my living room - my friends had brought their friends who had brought their other halves who had brought their friends, so more than half of these people were randomners to me - and hugged Daisy, complimenting her on her hairstyle. "What's up babe?"

Daisy motioned to the girl, who looked a bit older than Daisy, but not by much. "This is my friend Dianne, she just recently moved to Nashua from Greenwich. I brought her here to get to know you lot better, that's okay isn't it?"

I nodded and reached out and hugged Dianne, feeling how tense she was under my grip. "It's really great to meet you Dianne, I'm Marley, and this is my place these people are trashing."

Dianne laughed softly. "Thanks for letting me into your home, I don't know anyone here other than Daisy... our dads are cousins. So it's nice to have some people to talk to now that I'm here in Nashua permanantly."

"Oh, Marley won't be here all the time." Daisy said, shooting me a grin. "She travels with the WWE. Peter, you know Peter don't you?" Dianne's face grew stony as she nodded. I wondered what Peter had done to yet another innocent lady. "She's his aunts intern. She's above us all now aren't ya Marley?" Daisy shrieked as I grabbed her around the waist.

"If I was above you I would be making sure it was someone else's house you guys were wrecking tonight. Drunks!! The lotta yeez!" I yelled, recieving more than a few jeers and rude gestures in return. I turned back to Dianne. "When are you due?"

She smiled. "Ten days, I could go at any moment though. So I apologise in advance if I go into labour and ruin your party?"

I laughed, motioning towards the pounding music and wild people. "Go nuts, but be careful. If you need anything, just call. I'm just heading outside to make a phone call."

I leant against the woodwork of my porch, inhaling the fresh air deeply. I hadn't had a proper moment to myself these past few weeks, and now that I finally had it, I felt slightly withdrawn from normal society and I already wanted to be back on the road. I had grown to love the circus-like WWE life so much that I was having withdrawal symptoms from it within days of being off the road. After a couple of rings, he picked up.

"Cena here."

"Hey John."

"Marley! Hey, it's good to hear from you. How you doing?"

"I'm alright, what about you?"

"Not bad, not bad. How you enjoying the time off?"

"Glad to get a proper sleep but I miss everybody. I feel like I'm away from home for the first time in months."

John laughed. "Aw honey. It's getting inside your head isn't it?"

"It's already in there," I smiled, just hearing John's voice made me feel so much better. "I just can't wait to be back. It's good seeing my parents and friends again obviously but I can't get enough of you guys."  
"Well, speaking for myself, I am irresistable." I could hear the sarcasm dripping on John's voice and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Easy there hot stuff, you might embarrass yourself." I teased.

"Well I am hot enough to warrant my own embarrassment."

I laughed. "Oh get over yourself. This has been fun but I have to get back to my party."

"You're having a party?" John asked indignantly. "Without me?"

"If you care to drive all the way to Nashua in time then you're more than welcome to come."

"I'm pretty sure you're having much more fun without me anyway." John said with an exaggerated sigh.

I thought for a few moments. "Yeah, you're right. Don't bother coming."

He gasped. "That stung. That really, truly, stung."

"Awww, but you lovee me." I cooed.

He sighed. "That I do McCallan, that I do."

"So I'll see you Sunday?"

"Yes you will, enjoy the rest of your week."

"You too, say hi to Randy for me."

"Will do, bye Marley."

"Bye John."

After our phone call, I stared out into the trees. Peter was working all week, but he wasn't who I was thinking about. I wasn't really thinking about anyone in particular. Just thinking about life in general. How much mines had changed over the past few months. Who'd have thought I'd be in the WWE and best friends with all the WWE Superstars? And I wasn't even eighteen yet. It was pretty cool. I was incredibly lucky to have all that I have. I heard the back door creak open and I turned to see Kody peeking round at me.

"You alright back here?" He asked softly.

I nodded and turned back to staring out into the darkness. He closed the door and came and stood beside me, pulling me closer to him. "I'm fine, just thinking."

We stood in comfortable silence for a few moments before Kody broke it.

"I'm gonna miss you when you go back in April you know."

I felt a slight pang in my chest. I hadn't thought about that in weeks. I only had four more months to go before I had to head back home. That sucked. I knew I could trust Kody with what I had been thinking about, and I wanted to put his mind at ease.

"I'm not sure I'll be leaving," I saw his face light up, and I smiled sadly. "But don't tell anyone I said that okay? I don't want to decided until it comes time for me to leave."

Kody kissed the top of my head. "I hope you do stay. Things just won't be the same here without you."

My time off flew by, and Sunday came quickly. I had already re-packed my things and said my goodbyes to my friends. I had collected my rental at the airport in Canada for Armageddon and I managed to get to the arena after dropping my bags in at the hotel in plenty of time. Turned out I was even here before any of the McMahon's and that was saying something. I helped set up the ring and made sure everything was set up properly in the production truck, but seeing as Stephanie wasn't here yet, there was not much else I could do. John, Shawn, Dave, Randy and Cody weren't here yet, so all I could do was wander around aimlessly for the next hour before more people started arriving. I noticed a young guy, a little older than me, standing near the office that would be Stephanie's tonight, and I approached him slowly, unsure as to why he was here.

"Can I help you?" I asked politely. When he turned his attention to me, I felt my breath catch. This guy was absolutely gorgeous. He had soft brown hair that fell into his eyes a little bit, big blue eyes that sparkled and he had the most perfect bone structure on any guy I'd seen. The moment he smiled at me, I felt myself swoon. Who _was_ this guy?

"Oh hey," He motioned towards the door. "I'm actually here to see Steph and Paul, but they're clearly not here yet so I thought I'd wait."

I nodded, so he knew my boss huh. Well then, he should know me too. "I'm Marley, I'm Steph's assisstant." He held out his hand and I shook it.

"I'm Reid Flair," I smiled then froze. Wait, what?

"Flair?" I asked. "As in..."

He smiled again. "As in Ric's son yeah. I'm here on behalf of my father actually. He's busy and he needs to ask Paul and Steph a favour, so I came here to see some of the guys and to watch the show."

I smiled and motioned behind him to where I knew catering was. "Do you wanna go grab lunch while we wait? Steph and Paul won't be here for another while yet and I could definitely use the company."

He seemed surprised by my forwardness. I had basically just told him to stay with me. But he smiled at me, wider this time. "Sure Marley, I'd really like that."

We made our way over to the catering hall in silence. But it was a comfortable silence. As we sat down to eat, I couldn't believe I was sitting at the same table as Ric Flair's son. I wondered if he was maybe here to talk about getting a developmental deal. He was just as good as Peter and had a coupla years more experience than him. He would definitely be a good asset for the WWE roster. I made a mental note to mention it to Stephanie next chance I got.

"So how long have you worked under Stephanie?" Reid asked politely.

"About two months now," I smiled. "It's been really great."

"You're Scottish?" He asked curiously.

I nodded. "My family moved here for a year just to get a change in environment. I'm friends with Steph's nephew Peter so really I got this job by association. I'm here till April and then I'm going back home... that's the plan anyway."

He smirked. "How are you liking the big bad wrestling world then?"

I grinned. "It's awesome. Totally dreams come true and all that jazz. But enough about me, my story's boring. How are you getting on wrestling-wise?"

We spent the next hour talking about his wrestling career and professional wrestling in general. He had wrestled alongside Kody for a few years, and Reid told me the two went way back due to their fathers friendships. Neither of us mentioned the fact that Kody hadn't really been around his father for that many years, but it was clear that Kody Hall had inherited his fathers flair for the business. The same could be said for Reid. He seemed like a really great person and when I was walking him back to Steph's office after she had called me to tell me she had arrived, I had the sudden urge to ask him out. But I felt I had been forward enough for today.

"So, Marley, I was wondering, if you're not busy.. um, if you'd like to go out to dinner with me after the show?" Reid asked hopefully. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"You want to go on a date with me?" I saw the way his face fell. That hadn't come out the way I'd wanted it to. "I'd love to, Reid."

His face lit up. "You will?"

I nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Yup. Meet me here once the show's over okay?"

He grinned and waved as I walked away. "Bye Marley, it was great talking to you."

I was almost at the Gorilla when I felt two insanely strong arms wrap around my waist. "Guess who." Came a growl.

I squealed and pretended to fight off my attacker. He only squeezed harder, which made me yelp in actual pain. "Let go of me Dave, you're hurting me."

He instantly dropped me, and before I crashed to the ground, he caught me and pulled me upright. I could see his concerned eyes staring a hole through me.  
"I'm sorry Marley, I didn't mean to be so rough, are you alright?"

I pretended to pout. "No, you've hurt my stomach and hurt my feelings. I don't think I can forgive you."

Dave frowned. "Well then, there's only one solution, and I think you know what it is."

My eyes widened. "No, no Dave, please. Please don't-" He lunged for me and I screamed, high-tailing it away from him. He chased me through the corridors until I noticed Shawn up ahead.

"Shawn!" I screamed lunging behind him and holding him tightly. "Shawn, help me, Dave's trying to tickle meee." I whined.

Shawn chuckled and held me close. "Don't worry Marley, I won't let him near you."

Dave finally caught up to us and bent over slightly, trying to catch his breath. "Damn Marley, you sure can run fast. I have to wrestle tonight you know."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Well then that's your fault for making me run then isn't it?! And if you'll excuse me, I have things to do and I have a show to help run. I'll talk to you boys later." I kissed them both on the cheek before turning to walk away, but Dave yanked me back. "Davey!! I'm serious, I'm really busy tonight."

"I'm waiting on you telling me n Shawn about your date." Dave said innocently. I shot him a glare as Shawn smirked slightly.

"A date huh? And you weren't gonna tell us princess?" Princess had been Shawn's nickname for me ever since I had came to the arena in princess pyjamas and matching slippers due to sleeping in late. Even though I'd showered and changed as soon as I arrived, it didn't stop Shawn teasing me for having clothes with "Princess" on them. The nickname had stuck ever since. "I'm hurt that you'd hide something like this from us."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, okay. I have a date tonight after the show with Reid Flair, there are you happy now?" They shared an amused look and I felt my anger bubbling. "Why are you smiling? I'm going on a date with a guy, so what? I'm not a prude and I'm certainly not a little girl so lay off. I can date who I want when I want and neither of you will stop Reid and I from having a great time tonight."

Dave's eyebrows shot up. "Hey, calm yourself right down. We didn't say anything like that. Where's all this aggression coming from?"

I knew I was angry at them for no particular reason, but I couldn't just make my frustration go away. "Just leave me alone Dave! I have far too much to do tonight and I can't afford any distractions."

I felt bad as I stormed away. Dave had meant well, and Shawn hadn't even said anything! Neither of them deserved to be spoken to like that. I was about to turn back round and go apologise when I noticed Peter standing talking to Randy a little way away.

"Pete!" I called excitedly, running up and throwing myself at him. He managed to catch me at the last second and spun me round, causing me to giggle.

"Hey Marley." He replied affectionately. He put me down and I turned to Randy.

"Hey Randall." I flung my arms around him and hugged him tight, causing him to chuckle.  
"Thank you, I thought I was gonna get ignored for a moment there." Randy smiled down at me and then nodded to Pete. "I'll talk to you later man, good luck tonight okay?"

Peter nodded, his face set, and we both watched Randy walk away. Tonight, Pete was gonna win the US Championship from Brian Kendrick in a no disqualification match. "Are you nervous?"

Peter looked back to me and shrugged. "Not particularly. It's just such a big night y'know? I just want everything to go well."

I linked arms with him and dragged him over to the Gorilla, where I was supposed to have been about twenty minutes ago. "You'll be fine. Just go out there and be the best you can be. That's all that anyone can ask for."

He smiled. "You're right, thanks. Now, did you have fun in Nashua without me?"

"Oh yes, lots." I joked. "It was pretty great, I had a huge blow-out on Saturday, everyone and their mother was there. I wish you could have came too."

"Well I was working darling." Peter said with a cocky grin. "You should try it sometime."

I opened my mouth in outrage. "I work hard for your aunt! Don't give me your shit."

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay. Touche. Jeez. Hey listen, I was wondering. Seeing as I haven't seen nor heard from you in about a week, fancy going out for dinner then catching a late movie after the show? I need to do some unwinding and what better way to do that than with my best buddy huh?"

I felt slightly guilty as I shook my head. "As great as that sounds honey, I kinda already have plans."

His face fell. "Oh right. Um, like, a girls night out or a...?"

"A date?" I said helpfully. I saw his face scrunch up slightly. What was his deal? "Yeah, I have a date tonight so I can't make it. But raincheck?"

"Um, sure." Peter smiled slightly. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Reid Flair." I studied his face for any reaction, but there was none. "I met him earlier today and he asked me out to dinner."

"That's cool," He gave me a brief one-armed hug and made to turn away. "Have fun and I'll see you Tuesday."

I felt confused as he started walking away. Was I gonna get a weird reaction from everyone when they found out I was going on a date with Reid Flair? It was one date, god. What the hell was everyone's problem? But maybe if I'd thought hard enough, I'd be able to see Pete's problem staring me straight in the face.


	14. Chapter 14

She was dating Reid Flair?!

I'd been trying to figure out how to tell my best friend I was in love with her for months, she goes away for one week and when she comes back she already has a date lined up with Reid _Flair?_

Paul couldn't quite get why I was so upset. "So they're going on a date, so what? That doesn't mean anything. It might not even be a good date." He saw the look on my face and he shut up, instead letting his wife deal with it.

"Honey, she hasn't ever mentioned Reid before, I honestly think this is the first time she's met him." Stephanie, who was yet to even see Marley - she had been wandering around the arena all night seemingly staying away from everyone - patted me on the back gently. "He asked her out, she said yes, and that's the end of it. If they have a good time, then they have a good time. You just have to be patient and wait for the right moment to tell her how you feel."

Over the past couple of months, I had come to a conclusion, I was in love with Marley McCallan. It wasn't even that hard to realise. I'd known it for a while. But now, finally, I wasn't afraid of that knowledge anymore. Now, I was finally able to pluck up the courage to maybe ask her to take things further than our friendship. And what happens? I get shot down. Shot down in exchange for Reid fucking Flair. I barely even knew the guy and already I despised him. He would steal my girl from me. I just knew it. He would take her out and charm her and she'd fall in love with him and she'd end up staying in America and move to Charlotte to be with him. Typical. Absolutely typical.

"Whatever." I shrugged and continued my pacing, trying to get psyched up for my match, the last thing I needed was having her and Reid's upcoming date on my mind. "I want her to be happy, I guess. Even if that's with Reid."

"That's a very mature way to look at it." Stephanie said solemnly. She glanced at her watch. The show was about to begin. "Now where the hell is that goddamn intern of mine. I haven't seen her since I got here almost three hours ago!! Yet everything I've wanted done, she's already done!"

"I was talking to Shawn earlier," Paul said, putting an arm round Steph's shoulders. "He said Marley went kinda weird on him and Dave. He said she's been running around crazy all day trying to do everything herself... something's up with her, but no-one really knows what."

That caught my attention. She had seemed fine earlier, maybe she was upset for some reason? That would give me a reason to call her up later after her date and see if she was okay.

"I'm gonna go meet Brian guys okay?" I said, walking towards the door. "I'll catch up with you both later."

As I was making my way through the corridors, I heard her laughter. That distinctive laugh that I loved to hear so much. I looked around and caught sight of her, she was standing talking to Jeff. In fact, Jeff was standing a bit too close for comfort if you asked me. I stared at them, just watching them interact. Marley had that flirtatious look on her face. The one she used twenty-four seven when around any of the guys she had labelled as "hotties" on the WWE roster. Jeff said something which made her giggle again. I noticed that it wasn't the fake laugh she used when trying to take the piss out of people. She was genuinely laughing. Whatever Jeff was saying, it must have been pretty funny. She laughed again and placed a hand on his chest, smiling coyly up at Jeff who was smirking back down at her. Seeing them together made me green with envy. Jeff had a girlfriend! What the hell was he playing at? And Marley too. She had a date later on with Reid Flair and she was standing flirting with a guy who was already taken? What the hell was up with her?

I suddenly realised what I was doing. I was standing spying on my best friend and trying to psycho analyse her and deduce why she was doing the things she did. I was starting to grow obsessive over her. I wanted Marley. I wanted her so badly. But I was going about it all wrong. I had to wait and bide my time. I had to do what Stephanie said and wait for the right moment to make my move. I had to keep her on side for as long as I possibly could. I'd given up a lot to get Marley. I hoped when I finally got her, she'd realise and appreciate that fact.

I was almost at the locker-room on my way to see Brian when I saw Reid Flair up ahead talking to Cody Rhodes. As I walked past, Reid shot me a smile. I didn't return it. Instead, I glared at him as I walked past.

No-one stole my girl. No-one.


	15. Chapter 15

"And we're off-air, well done everybody." I still hadn't got used to being on the headphones for a show, but it was quite fun. I removed my headset and turned to Stephanie, who was smiling at me.

"Great job honey," She noticed me glance at my watch, and her smile turned to a smirk. "Go on, get going. I'll see you tomorrow."

I jumped up from my seat, gave her a quick hug and kiss and I ran off to freshen up. I'd changed halfway through the show, and once I'd checked my hair and make-up was okay, and once I'd touched up on my perfume, I went searching for Reid. I found him standing outside Stephanie's office, playing with his cell phone. He looked up as I approached, a smile breaking out on his face as he reached out and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.

"You look wonderful." He said earnestly, gazing me up and down. I saw the way his eyes lingered over my cleavage and I had to work hard to hide my smirk. "Should we get going? I got reservations for 11.30."

We were on our way out of the arena when I caught sight of John. I smiled and waved at him, surprised and a little hurt when I didn't get a wave and a smile back in return. Instead he just stared at us as we made our way out of the building. I suddenly felt flustered. I hadn't seen or spoken to John in days. Had I upset him in some way?

"Hey, are you okay?" Reid asked in concern as we seated ourselves in a lovely Italian restaurant. "You've been pretty quiet ever since we left the arena."

I stuck a smile on my face. "I'm fine. This is a really beautiful place you chose."

"Beautiful place for a beautiful lady." There was a moment of silence before we both burst out laughing at the sheer cheese of that statement.

"Please don't tell me you normally use lines like that?!" I asked, pretending to groan.

He smiled. "Nah, not really. Plus you don't really seem to be the type of girl who goes for all that mushy shit."

I laughed. "That's cuz I'm not."

"So tell me more about you," Reid said, pouring us both a glass of wine. I wonder if it occured to him that neither of us were twenty one yet. "Tell me what Marley McCallan is like."

I sighed and thought for a few moments before answering. "Well, I'm seventeen, and I grew up in Scotland. I love wrestling and I love to write and the past couple of months the WWE has become my entire life and it's amazing. I love to laugh and I love to joke around and I enjoy taking the piss out of everything and everyone. If I'm ever acting serious then I'm either joking or someone's died." He laughed and I took a breath. Reid and I, we seemed to click. I felt like I could trust him, which was why I was willing to open up to him. "Because I'm always laughing and always having a joke, people think that that's me. People think that I can't get my feelings hurt because I'm always so bubbly and bouncy and too fun to really affect me. But the Marley I portray to everyone isn't really the real Marley. It's not the real Marley..."

"Does anyone know the real Marley?" Reid asked, taking my hand gently and rubbing his thumb over it.

I smiled. "Some people do, but it takes a while." I laughed as he pouted. "Play your cards right and you might yet get to know the real Marley."

He grinned. "So does that mean I'll be seeing you again?"

I giggled. "We're barely through our dessert and already you're asking me out?" I pretended to be shocked when he nodded. "Wow, I don't think I've ever met anyone so enthusiastic about dating me before."

"Well, special benefits for a special lady." He raised his eyebrows as I burst out laughing. "What did I say?"

"I'm sorry," I managed to splutter out between laughs. "I was just thinking of a different meaning for benefits than what you meant."

He laughed. "My my, such a dirty mind for such a beautiful girl."

I couldn't help but blush. "We're complimentry tonight aren't we Mr Flair?"

"You bring it out in me." He whispered, bringing my fingers up to his lips as he brushed a gentle kiss across my knuckles.

After dinner, which was delicious, we were standing outside the restaurant.

"How about a few drinks?" Reid asked brightly. "I know a classy bar just down the road from here, I don't know when I'll next get to a WWE show. I'm trying out for TNA next week you see."

I smiled, as tempting as that sounded, I knew how that would end. And I didn't want to ruin things with Reid when they had so much potential. We had certainly clicked and I'd had a great time with him tonight. I really wanted to see him again, but my instincts were telling me to take things slow. I didn't want to mess this up. "As great as that sounds, it's been a long day and I have some travelling to do tomorrow for RAW... but I would really love to go out with you again sometime." I said, feeling like an idiot for blushing so much.

Reid brushed my hair from my eyes and cupped my chin in his hands. "Most definitely, I'll call and arrange for you to maybe fly down to Tampa during next weekend when you're off? How does that sound?" Before I could answer, he kissed me. Gently at first, before grabbing me tightly and kissing the life out of me. I kissed him back passionately, and when he ended the kiss much too soon for my liking, a little groan escaped from my lips. He kissed me softly one last time before hailing down a cab. "I'll make sure you get back to your hotel alright. Will I see you Friday?"

I didn't need to be asked twice. "Definitely. I look forward to it."

He grinned. "Great, I had a great time tonight by the way, I really want to see you more often."

I smiled and leaned in to him as we made the short ride back to my hotel. He walked me up to my room and kissed me a few more times before I unlocked the door. "I want to see you much more often Reid, thank you for such a good night."

"Anytime." He kissed my head and bade me goodnight, and just like that, he was gone.

I let myself into my hotel room and threw my bag on the floor. I kicked my heels off and fell backwards onto the bed with a sigh, thinking over the amazing date I'd just had. I glanced at the clock, it was almost one AM. I needed to talk to someone, but after the way John acted today, and the way I'd acted towards Shawn and Dave, I knew it couldn't be any of my guy friends. I jumped in a quick shower, washing all the hairspray out my hair before changing into my pyjamas and slipping on a pair of socks. I locked my hotel room and skipped three doors down before knocking quietly on the door. After a few moments, the door opened, and Li-Marie stared at me in surprise.

"Hey baby, what brings you here?" Li-Marie thought for a few moments before she grinned widely. "How was your date?"

"John's not talking to me." I replied glumly. "I don't know what I've supposed to have done."

"Aww." Li-Marie held her arms open and I accepted her embrace. "Don't mind him, he's probably just acting weird for no reason."

"But I don't get why." I pouted, walking further into the room to greet Nat, who squealed excitedly and hugged me around the middle. "We were fine a few days ago... do you think it's cause I went on a date with Reid?"

Nat and Li-Marie shared a glance. "Why would he be mad about that?"

"Well everyone's had either a sarcastic comment about it or in Peter's case just totally blew it off." I huffed, flopping down on the sofa. "It's so stupid. I feel so confused. I had a really nice time with Reid tonight, I just can't seem to get John and Peter's reactions out of my head."

"You're just upset because you guys have never fallen out sweetie." Nat rubbed my arm gently. "You and John are still pretty new at being friends. You probably don't know John well enough yet. Maybe he was just having a bad day."

"I hope so." I sighed. "I would hate for him to be mad at me."

"Enough about John and Peter," Li-Marie nudged me in the ribs playfully. "How was the date? Get a lil action?" Nat and Li-Marie cracked up as I pretended to look offended.

"Of course there wasn't any action!" I said indignantly. "I wouldn't have gotten here so quickly if there had been." The wolf-whistled and we giggled and gossiped for hours and I felt much better afterwards. John and Peter would just have to shove it. I was happy and I'm pretty sure Reid and I would be going out again sometime soon, I just hoped he had as good a time as I had.

I was slightly late getting to RAW the next day. Lack of sleep had caused me to miss my alarm, and by the time I got down to check out, the only other RAW person who hadn't yet left was Dave. He watched as I checked myself out and hauled my suitcases over to the front door. I avoided his gaze. I wasn't one to apologise easily, and I didn't know whether he was pissed off or not about what had happened the day before. I was struggling getting my suitcases through the revolving door when I felt him lift up my bags and slowly turn me around so that I was facing him.

"Need a hand?" He asked quietly. "Or are you gonna bite my head off for that too?"

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny. Can you get my bags in my car please?" He followed me over to my car, placing my bags in the boot before leaning against my hood with a smirk. "So how did the date with loverboy go last night?"

I rolled my eyes again, harder this time. "It was actually a very fun night thank you very much. I won't go into detail because I don't want to make you jealous." He laughed, and I felt the tension that had appeared between us disappear completely. "That's good to know. So do you forgive me for whatever you were angry at me for last night?" I sighed, knowing I'd have to be the one to apologise. Dave had technically not done anything wrong.

"I'm sorry Davey." I pouted pathetically, looking for sympathy. "I was just having a rough day. Lack of sleep and all that, do you forgive me?" I put on my best angellic expression. He frowned, thinking for a few moments, before laughing and holding his arms open. "Come here." I bounded over and hugged him. "Of course I forgive you. Now, do you want me to drive you to the arena?" I nodded in agreement and he opened the passenger door for me. "In you get then."

Arriving at RAW, I left my bags in the car to collect at a later date, I had to go check in with Steph and see if she needed anything done. With my list of things to do for tonights show, I threw myself into it, feeling slightly happier than I had done that morning. I handed out all the schedules and sat in on the final creative meeting, the show had already begun by the time I had finished everything that I needed to do. So I entered the Gorilla and took the headset Steph was holding out for me. It was John's match, he was facing Shawn and JBL in a handicap match. When he came back through the curtain, he nodded towards me and spoke with Steph for a few moments. I saw Steph nod as John beckoned me to follow him.

"What is it?" I asked the moment we were clear of the gorilla. He stood there staring at me, his head cocked to the side.

"I spoke to Nattie this morning, she said you thought I was mad at you."

"Well, you did ignore me last night." I shot back defensively.

He frowned. "When?"

"When I was leaving with Reid?" Recognition dawned in his eyes. "I waved at you and you just stared at me like I was see through! Cause I haven't spoken to you in a while I thought I might have done something to make you mad at me."

He chuckled and pulled me forwards for a hug. "Don't be silly. I could never be mad at you, even if you did something really bad." He kissed my cheek. "We'll go out to lunch one day this week yeah? When we're both free?"

I nodded, heading back to the production. "Sure, I'll talk to you later."

Just as I was getting ready to put my headset back on, my phone rang. I shot an apologetic glance to Steph before leaving again to take the call. "McCallan here."

"Hey Marley." My insides fluttered a little. "It's Reid by the way."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I recognised your voice Reid. How are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?"

"I'm alright." I shrugged, leaning against a nearby trunk. "I was late to RAW, so I haven't really been doing much tonight."

"Bummer." Reid paused for a moment. "I was just calling to say I had a really nice time last night, and I really hope we can do it again sometime soon."

I smiled, he was so cute. "Of course we will. Are we still on for this weekend in Tampa?"

"Yup." I grinned. "I might stop by the Smackdown taping tomorrow and come see you. Maybe if I sweet talk Stephanie she might give you some time off."

I laughed. "I just had time off so I doubt she'll let me. But I have to go, the show's running. I'll talk to you later yeah?"

"Of course, bye Marley."

"Bye."

I made it back to the Gorilla and sat down with a contented sigh. Steph shot me a small smile, then did a double take and raised her eyebrows. "Who was on the phone?"

I smirked at her. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Stephanie rolled her eyes playfully. "That's fine, just tell loverboy next time not to call during my show."


	16. Chapter 16

_Thanks to SuperDooperMario for reviewing! And I am so jealous that you are going to WM25 :P x_

"I can't believe it's nearly Christmas already." I said with a happy sigh, leaning against Reid's chest. "Three more days! I love Christmas."

"I know, so do I." He kissed my cheek and rested his chin on my shoulder. "I still don't see why you don't want a gift."

I rolled my eyes. "It's fine, really. We haven't been dating long enough to get each other anything. Plus we aren't gonna see each other after today for another few weeks, we can treat each other then."

"Gladly." I smiled as Reid and I fell into a comfortable silence. We had only been seeing each other for a couple of weeks, but I had been having a lot of fun with him. He was flying back to Charlotte for Christmas while I was heading to Connecticuit to spend time with Peter and the McMahon-Levesque clan. My parents, having nothing better to do, where coming along for the day, as was Scott. I said my goodbyes to Reid and headed back to my own hotel room to get my things packed together. I was spending Christmas morning in New Hampshire with Kody and Max, before we were catching a quick flight to Greenwich. It would be hectic, but something told me it would be worth it.

Somehow, I sensed this would be a Christmas to remember.

*

"Marley's here!" I heard Aurora's excited little voice as Stephanie got up from the couch and glanced out the window.

"Here she comes." Steph grinned as Aurora bounced through to answer the door. "She looks pretty happy."

I watched as she entered the room, her beautiful bright smile in place. She quickly bounced across the room into Stephanie's arms, hugging and kissing her with a giddy laugh.

"Look at you sexy mama." She drawled playfully. "You gotta get me the number of your trainer cuz you is looking hot tonight."

"That's what I keep telling her." Paul said with a sly grin as he slipped his arm around his wife's waist.

Marley grinned happily at them. "Happy Christmas guys."

"MARLEY!" Vince boomed, entering the room with his arms outstretched. Marley obliged and hugged him tight. "Merry Christmas kid."

"And Merry Christmas to you too sir." She replied cheekily, turning back towards her parents. "You remember my parents right?"  
Vince nodded and embraced Marley's mom. "Merry Christmas to you both as well. Can I take your coats?"

Marley's eyes found mine and she happily slid into my lap and hugged me, showering me with friendly kisses. She had clearly had some drinks with Cody and Max earlier on. "Happy Christmas Petey."

The grin that was plastered on my face couldn't have been more genuine, what I wouldn't give to just hold her and kiss her more than a friend. "Merry Christmas Princess."

She grinned and kissed me, this time on the lips. As she pulled away, I could see a slight frown on her face. Ignoring it, we both got to our feet and she bounced all the way through the house into the kitchen.

"Lynne!" I heard her shriek before I'd even reached the doorway. "Linda! Marissa! Shane! Ahhh, Merry Christmas you guys!"  
Mom laughed as she recieved a rib-crushing hug from Marley. "Someone's either very hyper or slightly drunk."

"I think it's a mixture of the two to be honest." Marley replied, accepting Marissa's warm embrace. She glanced around. I realised what she was about to do and I covered my ears. "NAAYSSSAAAA!" She hollered.

"Right Marley that's enough." Her mom admonished as she entered the kitchen laden with presents and food and wine and all sorts of other things.

"Mum," Marley rounded on her mother wide-eyed as Nayssa came scampering into the kitchen, Scott at her heels. "Think about where we are. We're in the McMahon's house - at CHRISTMAS. How can I not be excited? It's like the most fucking amazing-"

"Language!" Lynne, her mom and Nayssa all scolded at the same time.

Marley rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She grabbed Nayssa around the neck and squeezed her tight. "Merry Christmas squirt."

Nayssa wriggled out from under her. "Get off me Marley. I've not finished making my cake yet."

"Pfft." Marley glanced around at the already crowded kitchen. "Too many cooks spoil the broth in my opinon. And while I would love to help out-"

"You would end up being a nuiscance anyway." Linda teased, earning her yet another crushing hug from my over-excited friend. "Go in and see Stephanie and Paul."

"Yeah," I said, holding out my hand. Obliging, she grabbed my hand and I led her away into the living room followed by Scott and Shane. "Let's go annoy Steph and Paul."

"I heard that boy." Paul growled playfully. Marley must have realised Paul and Shane were both yet to recieve a hug, which she then made sure to rectify. "Let me have a peaceful Christmas yeah?"

"What did everyone get from Santa Claus?" Marley asked brightly. There was suddenly a loud chatter as Declan, Kenyon, Aurora and Murphy all tried to answer at once.

"Marley," I could tell the look on Aurora's face was her scolding look. I tried to suppress a grin when I caught Steph's eye. "Santa didn't bring me that Barbie set I wanted... you said he would get me it if I asked him nicely. I was good _every_ night as well-"

"Aurora." Paul scolded gently. "You don't always get what you want, you got plenty other toys from Santa Claus, you can't always get everything."

"Besides Aurora," Marley rummaged in the bags at her feet, bringing out four brightly wrapped presents. "I had a little word with Santa Claus the other night." She handed the four children their presents and as Aurora realised she had gotten the doll she wanted, she screamed in happiness and instantly rushed to Marley to thank her. "He let me give it to you for Christmas instead."

"Aww awesome!" Declan exclaimed as he jumped to his feet, X-Box game and night-vision goggles in hand. "Thanks so much Marley man, you're seriously the coolest aunt ever."

Stephanie cleared her throat, causing Declan to blush.

"I mean who isn't actually a relative." He corrected innocently.

Murphy was trying to shower Marley with affection in thanks for her pretty pony gift, while Kenyon was ecstatically playing around with his new action figures. "You shouldn't have gotten them anything Marley." Shane said earnestly, as Marley rummaged through the bags some more. "They already have enough stuff."

Marley waved this away with a smile. "It was my pleasure. I'll give the adults their presents after dinner. I just knew those four wouldn't be able to wait."

"Well," I saw Vince share a look with Linda as the women all joined us in the room. "We'll all do the proper present opening after dinner, but Marley, Linda and I would like to present you with our gift right now... before it gets late."

I could see her brow furrow in confusion. I couldn't wait to see her reaction. "Umm.. okay?"

Stephanie chuckled and hauled Marley to her feet as we all traipsed outside. "You'll love this."

As we all entered the driveway, Stephanie and Nayssa skipped ahead and stood on either side of Marley's present, showing it off. Marley's eyes fell upon the jet-black Lamborghini, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"No way." She said, her voice a deadly whisper. "No way did I just get given a car for Christmas."

"We thought, seeing as we have you travelling so much." Vince said from behind her, I could tell from the overwhelmed look on her face that she was having trouble digesting this. "You might as well travel around in style. Especially if you're going back and forth to Conneticuit so much."

"Plus it's sort of a thank you for all the dedicated work you do for us and the WWE." Linda added with a smile.

"Yeah but, a CAR?" She shrieked. "I BUY THE KIDS BARBIE DOLLS AND X-BOX GAMES AND YOU GET ME A FRICKIN CAR?"

"Marley, I'm a billionaire." Vince said confidently. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shane and Paul roll their eyes. "A new car for an employee is nothing to me."

"You don't buy any other employee a new lamborghini." She had him there. We all turned expectantly to Vince.

"Well no," Vince reasoned. "But you're practically family. Don't look at this as a gift from your boss, look at it as a gift from your surrogate grandfather." Everyone laughed at Marley's defeated sigh.

As we all made our way back into the house after we had all spent 30 minutes fawning over the car - and her parents and brother's disbelief that someone had actually bought her a car - Marley was still grumbling at the overextravagant gift she had just been given.

"Seventeen years old and they give me a fucking car." She grumbled. I held back and slipped my arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, think yourself lucky." When she opened her mouth to reply, I held up my hand. "At least they didn't buy you a house."

Yup, that definitely shut her up.


	17. Chapter 17

After a deliciously huge dinner and desert - I think Peter and I ate more than everyone at the table combined - we all sat down in the sitting room to open some presents. The kids had retired upstairs to watch TV, and even Nayssa and Scott had managed to disappear somewhere for a while. We all had a drink, the fire was on and there was soft jazz music playing in the background. I felt very relaxed sitting with my body pressed up against Peter's. We had seemed almost inseperable tonight - more inseperable than usual anyway. And it was a nice feeling. It was almost as though we had been drawn to each other tonight.

"Oh Marley thank you!" Stephanie exclaimed at her present of jewellerry and the perfume she had mentioned to me the other week. I had mostly gotten jewellerry, perfume and fashion accessories for Steph, Linda, Lynne, Marissa and Nayssa. The guys were much harder to think of. I mostly got them joke stuff, as well as aftershave and some CDs and DVDs. In return I had been given - apart from the car, which I had tried to forget about, but couldn't help but crave to drive - a beautiful pendant and diamond earring set from Paul and Stephanie, as well as some bath stuff, new shoes and a mug that said "Best Intern" on it. I had recieved the entire Friend's boxset from Shane and Marissa as well as a new pair of shoes. Lynne and Nayssa had given me clothes, which I couldn't help but fawn over for a while because it was almost everything I had pointed out to them on our shopping trip a week ago. Lastly, Peter and I were ready to exchange gifts.

"Let me know if you don't like it and I'll take it back." I said softly as I handed over a jewellerry case. As he opened it, he stared wordlessly at the bracelet inside of it for a few moments. Everyone except Paul stared at me questioningly as Peter's eyes suddenly misted up.

I had decided a long time ago that bringing Peter's dad up in conversation was not a good idea. I hadn't ever pressed Peter for information about how he had died. But in that one drunken night of passion, Peter had explained his father's surprise death to me, explained the anger and heartache he had suffered ever since. Everytime his father was mentioned, I could see the hurt in his eyes. So much hurt that it made my chest ache just looking at him. He clearly missed and loved him dearly, and I felt horrible about that. And because of that, I had just never mentioned him in conversation.

I had made the bracelet in gold, with his fathers name ingraved on it, as well as his date of birth and death. On the underside of it, there was an inscribed message : _"Be the best that you can be, no matter how hard or how long it takes you." Dad._ The slogan that Peter had told me his father repeated numerous times a day. I had gotten him a few other, meaningless things to go along with it, but this was the most special gift. I was a little bit anxious about whether or not he would like it or not. I was slightly surprised to see him actually shed tears as he removed it from its box, holding it between his fingers, before slipping it on and without saying a thing, pulling me close.

I don't know how long we sat like that, with him holding me tightly. Not a word was spoken between the others as we sat there, and when he eventually let me go, I noticed that everyone except my dad and Vince had tears in their eyes.

"My turn." Peter said gruffly. He handed me a slender, silver cased jewellery box. "Merry Christmas Marley."

Opening the box with shaking hands, I couldn't help but gasp.

"It's a charm bracelet." I said with a grin.

"Silver." Steph commented. Then to Peter she said. "You did your homework."

Peter shot her a smile before turning back to me. Taking the bracelet from my hand, he tied it to my wrist before bringing out three smaller boxes and opening them one by one. "I figured we could collect charms as we go along, keep adding to it all the time you know? And I mean, if either of us see a good charm, like, I could send it to Scotland or something, so that you could wear them all and just collect them all to mark special moments or something." I inspected the three little charms he showed me. One was a four leafed clover, citing _Marley & Peter 21/4/09_. Another was a musical note, with _BFF_ inscribed on the back while another was just a simple loveheart, with the inscription of _ILY_. Inexplicably, tears pricked my eyelids and I blinked them away, not wanting to cry in front of so many people. Peter helped me attach them to the bracelet, before I gazed up at him with a smile.

"Somehow I don't think you'll need to send them to Scotland." I said, pecking him on the cheek.

He looked surprised, but I could see the relief and joy in his eyes as he registered what I had said. I noticed Paul and Steph share looks with Vince and Linda, but my parents and Lynne were all just staring at me with sad smiles on their faces. I hadn't ever voiced concerns about April, but it was now December. My time in the US was drawing to a close and it was time for me to choose my future.... I think being here, and seeing mine and Peter's relationship cement itself in the way it just had, made my decision for me.

"Okay who wants a game of spin the bottle?" Lynne asked energetically.

There was some murmers of approval as Peter and I groaned in disgust.

"I'm sorry but I'm not playing spin the bottle with my parents in the same game." I said with a shake of my head. "I will not go there, and it would just be too weird and anyway. You guys are all old... er." I added when I recieved quite a few glares. "Older than I am, it would be wrong."

"She's right," Peter chimed in. "And apart from the fact we're all family, I am not playing spin the bottle with Vince McMahon."

Laughing, Stephanie got to her feet. "Why don't we play charades then?"

There was a low murmer of approval as Stephanie went away to find the game.

"Come out back with me." Peter whispered in my ear as everyone broke up into teams for the upcoming game.

Smiling at him, we both got to our feet. "We'll be right back."

Following him outside, I couldn't help but feel wary about what he might say. If he was going to give me the whole don't-leave-in-April-for-good speech, then it would totally ruin my night. April was four months away, and even though that wasn't that long, I didn't want to have to think too much about it tonight. I wanted to concentrate on having a good American Christmas. I could worry about my future tomorrow. Turning to him, I was surprised to see that he had moved closer to me, so that his face was mere inches away from mine. Seeing the tears still swimming in his eyes made my heart absolutely burst with love and affection for him. What I wouldn't give to just reach out and pull him to me, to have him kiss me passionately the way he had kissed me in that dream so many weeks ago.

"Thank you for this." He held up his right arm, the bracelet glinting in the moonlight. "It's amazing."

"I'm glad you like it." I whispered softly, I felt him shiver as my breath tickled his cheek. I felt something in my lower stomach stir that I hadn't felt when around him for a long, long time. "I just wanted something special. Something that meant a lot to you, I wanted to give you that."

"You did." He laughed shakily. "Oh God you did. It's the best thing I've ever been given."

"He would be proud of you you know." I don't know what made me say it. The alcohol I guess. "For everything you've done with yourself. Not only your career, but your personal life. You're a man now, not just a boy. You've become everything a father could only hope for his son to be."

He stared at me for a long time. The tears were now freely falling down his cheeks. Eventually...

"Oh God - Marley, I love you."

As his lips pressed against mine, I didn't even think twice about it. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me, causing his tongue to go deeper inside of my mouth. I could feel feelings in me that I had never experienced before. Kissing Peter just felt so normal, so right. I couldn't believe that after almost eight months, we had finally succumbed to what we had so stupidly been trying to avoid.

_You only have four months left with him._ Was all I could think about as he pushed me up against the wall and his hands roamed my body. _You've wasted eight months playing a cat and mouse game._

I pulled away from him a little bit, and suddenly started crying myself.

"Hey now," His voice was low and throaty, I felt that stirring in my abdomen again. "Why are you crying babe? What's wrong?"

"I love you too," I whispered back. "I love you so much you'll never-"

"Shh." He held his finger to my lips. "No regrets. Let's just live in the moment."

He kissed me back passionately again. So passionately it made my knees go weak.

"Hey guys we're ready to play... oh!"

I managed to remove myself from Peter's lips long enough to grin sappily up at a smirking Paul. "We'd like some more privacy Mr Levesque if you don't mind."

He winked back at us. "Take all the time you need."

As Paul returned back to the house, sliding the patio doors shut in the process, Peter stood holding me in his arms, pressing his forehead gently against mine.

"I love you too babe." I managed to whisper back.

Later that night, when everyone had gone to bed, Peter and I finally went back inside. We had sat out on the porch for another couple of hours. Talking, laughing, kissing and just enjoying each others company. After eight months of being just friends, it was a relief to finally be more than that. It was a relief to finally be able to kiss and touch him without feeling wary of crossing any boundries. We hadn't talked about the future or anything else to do with our relationship. We had decided to leave the serious talk till the morning to save risk of ruining an already perfect night. Peter walked me up to my room, and I begged him not to leave me.

"I've went eight months without you like this," I planted a long, passionate kiss on his lips. "I don't want to have to go to sleep without you beside me."

I was surprised when he obliged without much protest. He changed into his shorts, removed his shirt and climbed into the bed beside me. He wrapped his arms around me, planting another few kisses on my face before telling me once again that he loved me. I bade him goodnight and I managed to fall asleep pretty quickly. I didn't realise he hadn't removed his arms from my waist or returned to his own room until the next morning...... when my mum came in my room looking to see why I hadn't been answering her.

Which was when the shit really hit the fan.


End file.
